


What I Should Hate About You

by WitchInTraining



Category: 10 Things I Hate About You (1999), Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - 10 Things I Hate About You (1999) Fusion, Alternate Universe - High School, Drama, F/M, M/M, Romance, Romantic Comedy, klance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-27
Updated: 2017-09-18
Packaged: 2018-12-20 13:33:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 28,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11921952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WitchInTraining/pseuds/WitchInTraining
Summary: On his first day at his new High School, Shiro falls head over heels in love with the local beauty, Allura. Unfortunately for him, Allura can only date when her brother Keith does. But since Keith, a hothead and adamant single, has no intentions of ever dating, Shiro and his new friend Pidge devise a brilliant plan to hook him up with the school's most notorious flirt, Lance McClain.A 10 Things I Hate About You AU/fusion featuring Angry!Keith, Wild!Lance, Insecure!Shiro, Popular!Allura, Haughty!Lotor, Mischievous!Pidge and CinnamonRoll!Hunk.Most of the dialogue stems from the movie itself, but I added some scenes and left some out, depending on how necessary/neglectable they were. I also tweaked some of it to better fit the Voltron LD cast. Hope you enjoy.





	1. Welcome to Garrison High

**Author's Note:**

> Ah, Klance, the pit that my social life has fallen into... But, yeah, what would suit them better tha n 10 Things?
> 
> If you have never seen this movie, watch it. It's timeless, hilarious, romantic and endearing and Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger shine in the leading roles. You can find it on Amazon.

Keith was driving his bike down the road, enjoying the hum of the engine beneath him, the feeling of the wind that ripped at his clothes and the warmth of the late spring sun on his skin. He cursed silently as he approached a red light, halting right beside a convertible full of “popular girls”. He was unconcerned with their stares as he let his engine roar, no doubt disturbing their Monthly Charts Top Ten playlist in the process. He smirked. Served them right. As soon as the light turned he sped off, leaving the populars in a cloud of dust behind him.

It was a regular day at Garrison High and as usual he parked his motorcycle on one of the spots technically reserved for cars, but he didn’t care. If he got here first, he had the right to leave his bike wherever he pleased. As he entered the school building something caught his eye: plastered on the left beside the entrance was a poster announcing the annual Garrison High Prom Night. Keith’s stomach churned. He approached the poster and ripped it right off the wall, unfazed by the appalled faces of the group that had probably just attached the poster there.

‘Hey!’ a girl called after him, but he walked on, already annoyed at the day ahead of him.

…

In the guidance counsellor’s office Shiro was shifting on his seat, studying the bulky man on the other side of the desk. His nameplate read Mr. Iverson and Shiro wondered briefly what someone who looked like a military commander was doing at a local high school, counselling troubled kids. Just as he pondered the answer, Mr. Iverson looked up from his laptop.

‘I’ll be right with you,’ he said in a deep, booming voice.

Shiro tried to answer, but Mr. Iverson immediately returned to frantic typing, and so he just sat back and watched. Finally, the guidance counsellor shut his laptop and smiled at Shiro, face somewhat contorted.

‘So, Shiro,’ Iverson said, standing up and reaching for a small folder on his desk. ‘Here you go.’ He handed Shiro a paper, studying the rest of the documents he’d kept to himself. ‘Nine schools in 10 years,’ he mused. ‘My, my. Army brat?’

‘Yeah,’ Shiro agreed eagerly. ‘My dad is…’

But he was immediately cut off by the counsellor. ‘That’s enough.’

Shiro gaped at him, taken aback by this strange man’s direct manner.

‘I’m sure you won’t find Garrison any different than your old schools,’ he continued, unfazed by Shiro’s staring.

Shiro jumped as something that looked suspiciously like rotten tomatoes hit the office’s rear window, but Iverson didn’t even bother to turn around and look at the mess.

Instead, he proceeded with his “welcome talk”. ‘Same little ass-wipe shit-for-brains everywhere.’ He raised his middle finger to the window and laughed a very artificial sounding laugh.

‘Excuse me?’ Shiro was fumbling for words, aghast at the scene he’d just witnessed. What the hell was this school? ‘Did you just say… am I in the right office?’ He looked back to the door, hoping this was some kind of weird night-before-new-school nightmare.

‘Not anymore, you’re not’ Iverson concluded swiftly. ‘I’ve got deviants to see and a novel to finish.’ He returned to his desk. ‘Now scoot. Scoot!’ he repeated when Shiro didn’t move.

‘Okay. Thanks, thanks a lot.’ Horrified, Shiro collected his belongings and practically sprinted towards the door. In the frame he almost ran into a younger boy with brown skin and dark brown hair. He had somewhat of an impish face and his mouth was drawled into a lazy grin as he gave Shiro a once over.

‘Hey,’ the boy said and winked at him.

Shiro fled the office as fast as he could.

‘Lance McClain,’ he heard Iverson say as the door fell shut. ‘I see we’re making our visits a weekly ritual?’

…

‘I see we’re making our visits a weekly ritual?’

‘Only so we can have these moments together,’ Lance said and grinned at the guidance counsellor. ‘Should I hit the lights?’ He gestured at the switches behind him.

‘Oh, very clever, Salsa Boy.’ Iverson stared at him blankly, then returned his eyes to the paper in his hands. ‘Says here you exposed yourself in the cafeteria?’

Lance groaned. He knew it was more of a statement than a question, but he attempted to explain himself anyway. ‘I was joking with the lunch lady,’ he said. ‘It was a bratwurst.’

‘Bratwurst?’ Iverson asked and stepped up to him, towering over Lance threateningly. ‘Aren’t we the optimist?’

Lance stared at the counsellor, repulsed.

‘Next time,’ Iverson went on, ‘keep it in your pouch, okay?’

Lance blinked as the counsellor returned to his laptop.

‘Scoot!’ the older man said and Lance left, wondering, as always, why he was still at this school.

…

In the hallway, Shiro tried to evade the masses of students that streamed steadily from each direction, looking around for anyone that might be helpful to him.

‘Hello,’ someone said and Shiro had to actively look down to see the small figure in front of him.

He frowned.

‘Pidge Holt. I’m supposed to show you around.’ Pidge extended a hand towards him.

Pidge was tiny, and seemed much too young to be in high school. If Shiro was to guess, he’d say Pidge was a girl, but it was hard to tell with the loose green-and-white shirt and the baggy black capri shorts she was wearing. Her hair was short, brown, and very messy and she sported large round spectacles on a pointy nose. She had a somewhat mischievous look to her and Shiro liked her immediately. He shook her hand.

‘Oh, hi, thank God,’ he rambled. ‘You know, normally they send down one of those audio visual geeks…’

Pidge’s eyes narrowed and her grip on Shiro’s fingers tightened. Shiro was surprised such a small person could have that much strength in her hand.

‘You got a problem with tech enthusiasts, new kid?’ she asked. This girl was at least two heads shorter than him and she was calling him a “kid?”

Shiro blinked, then quickly shook his head. ‘No, not at all!’

‘Good.’ She smirked and let go of his hand, her anger disappearing as quickly as it had come. ‘So, Shiro.’ She began as they started strolling down the corridor. ‘Here’s the breakdown. Over there, we’ve got your basic beautiful people.’ She pointed to a group of jocks and cheerleaders. ‘Now listen. Unless they talk to you first, don’t bother.’

Shiro looked down at her and found her trying to suppress a sneer with very little success.

‘Wait,’ he said. ‘Is that your rule, or theirs?’ Pidge shrugged. ‘Watch. Hey there,’ she said and smiled when they passed the “beautiful people”, as she’d called them.

One of the jocks stepped away from the group. ‘Eat me.’

Pidge snorted as they walked on. ‘You see that?’

‘Er…’ Shiro made, looking back at the jock that had built himself up threateningly.

Pidge popped her lips. ‘Not like they’ve got anything interesting to say anyway, if you ask me.’

She continued her tour and Shiro followed her, slightly baffled. This school was like nothing he’d seen before.

‘To the left we have the coffee kids,’ she said as they left the building.

A group of students stood huddled together, each one holding on to a white paper cup. As they passed them, one of the kids stumbled and spilled some coffee. He turned to the guy beside him. ‘That was Costa Rican, butthead!’

‘Very edgy,’ Pidge mumbled, smirking. ‘Don’t make any sudden movements around them.’

Shiro frowned; he could have sworn it was her that had tripped the other kid.

‘These delusionals are your white Rastas,’ she said, pointing to a group of people that looked suspiciously delirious to Shiro. ‘They’re big Marley fans. They think they’re black.’ She rolled her eyes. ‘Semi-political, but mostly…’

‘Smoke a lot of weed?’ He finished her sentence.

She looked up at him, brown eyes glinting. ‘Yeah. These guys;’ she continued, as if she’d not just admitted that some students were known felons at this school. Shiro blinked at her, then followed her gesture. He spotted a group of students in wide cowboy hats, swinging lassos around.

‘Wait, wait. Let me guess!’ he interrupted her, now starting to find her little game entertaining. ‘Cowboys?’

‘Yeah.’ The expression on her face was a mix of bemusement and approval. ‘But the closest they’ve come to a cow is McDonalds.’

Shiro chortled. He definitely liked this kid. She looked pleased at his reaction

‘These are your future MBAs. We’re all Ivy League accepted.’

Shiro stared at the teenagers in business suits and ties and shook his head. That was not his cup of tea. Pidge patted him on the shoulder, eyebrows raised knowingly.

‘Yuppie greed is back, my friend.’

‘Shove off, Pidge,’ one of the suits said when they strolled past, mustering her with a hostile expression.

‘What’s her problem?’ he asked as Pidge trudged on, completely ignoring the incident.

‘Meh. They’re just jealous,’ she told him and shrugged.

‘Of what?’

She smirked. ‘My hacking skills. But don’t worry, I’m very capable of defending my honour. Sooner or later… now, over here --’

‘Oh. My. God.’ Pidge’s voice zoned out completely as Shiro stared at a girl that could only be described as perfection.

She was tall, yet graceful, fit, yet curvy, had light blonde hair that appeared almost white which stood in wonderful contrast to her lush brown skin and her blue eyes sparkled like sapphires when she smiled. She was radiant as the sun, mysterious as the moon – She passed him and didn’t even grant him a curious glance.

‘What group is she in?’ Shiro asked Pidge, as his eyes followed the beautiful stranger.

‘The “don’t even think about it” group,’ Pidge said dryly. Shiro ignored her tone, waiting for her to continue. ‘That’s Allura Altea, she’s a senior, like you.’

Shiro clutched his shirt with his prosthetic arm. ‘I burn, I pine, I perish!’

‘Of course you do.’ He could almost hear the younger student roll her eyes. ‘You know, she’s beautiful and deep… I’m sure.’

Shiro watched as Allura appeared to have a very lively conversation with another girl.

‘Listen,’ Pidge said, nudging him with her very sharp elbow and thus returning his attention to her. ‘Forget her. Incredibly uptight father. It’s a widely known fact that the Altean siblings aren’t allowed to date.’

He blinked at Pidge, then found his eyes returning to wonderful Allura. ‘Uh huh, yeah.’ He nodded absent-mindedly.

‘Whatever.’ Pidge yanked him along as the bell rang. ‘You coming to class, or what?’ Shiro stared at her, momentarily shaken out of his reverie.

‘You’re… in my class?’ he asked.

The signature smirk returned to Pidge’s face. ‘Child genius, my friend,’ she said and pulled him off, back into the building.

…

Keith had settled in his seat long before the rest of his peers had arrived and he was impatiently waiting for class to start.

Their teacher, Mr. Holt, clapped his hands twice to signal for them all to be quiet. ‘Okay then,’ he said, his voice clear in the somewhat unsettled classroom. ‘What did everyone think of The Sun Also Rises?’

“Poster girl”, how Keith liked to call her now, raised her hand and sighed contentedly. ‘I loved it,’ she said, looking at Mr. Holt with glazed eyes. ‘He’s so romantic.’

Keith sneered. ‘Romantic? Hemingway?’ The class turned towards him, some in anticipation, some in annoyance. Mr. Holt sighed audibly. Keith didn’t care. ‘He was an abusive, alcoholic misogynist who squandered half his life hanging around Picasso, trying to nail his leftovers.’

‘As opposed to a bitter, self-righteous fag who has no friends?’ Someone piped up from the back of the class. Keith turned around to glare at Lotor Ragal, a guy with long, silvery blonde hair, long limbs and a self-absorbed smile. Lotor sneered at Keith as he received a high-five from one of his brainless friends.

‘Pipe down, Tinkie Winky,’ Mr. Holt ordered from the other end of the room.

Keith bit his lip in an attempt not to laugh out loud. Lotor’s complexion was indeed so pale that he appeared almost purple under fake light. Lotor shut up immediately.

‘I guess in this society being male, straight and an asshole,’ Keith retorted, emphasizing the last word as he turned back to Lotor, ‘makes you worthy of our time.’

A murmur of impressed agreement went through the class and Keith took that as encouragement to continue.

‘What about Oscar Wilde, or Virginia Woolf or T.S. Eliot?’ He prompted, looking for approval from Mr. Holt.

Just then, the door to the classroom burst open and the local troublemaker, Lance McClain, came tumbling in, looking somewhat dishevelled. He caught himself quickly, though, and grinned.

‘What’d I miss?’ he asked.

Keith groaned. ‘The oppressive patriarchal values that dictate our education.’

Lance eyed him blankly. ‘Good.’ Then he turned around and left as hastily as he’d just entered.

‘Hey, hey!’ Mr. Holt called after him, but before he could pursue the runaway, Lotor interrupted.

‘Mr. Holt,’ he began, ‘is there any chance we could get Keith to take his Midol before he comes to class?’ He smirked self-sufficiently as his peers snickered around him.

Keith gave him the dead eye.

‘Someday,’ Mr. Holt replied coolly, ‘you’re going to get slapped. Hard. And I’m not going to do a thing to stop it.’

The self-sufficient grin disappeared from Lotor’s face in an instant.

‘And Keith,’ Mr. Holt went on. ‘I want to thank you for your point of view.’

Keith nodded.

‘I know how difficult it must have been to overcome all those years of upper-middle class suburban suppression. Must be rough.’ His voice was dripping with sarcasm as he slowly rolled his wheelchair towards Keith. ‘But the next time you storm the P.T.A., crusading for better lunch meat, or whatever it is that you able-bodied complain about, ask them why they can’t buy a book written by, say, Stephen Hawking!’

Keith raised his eyebrows, shocked, but he was never one to back away from a challenge. ‘Anything else?’

‘Yeah, go to the office, you’re pissing me off.’ Mr. Holt gestured widely at the door.

‘What?’ Keith stared. ‘Mr. Holt –’

‘Later!’ His teacher called as he rolled back to the front of the class. Keith gaped at him for a second, then packed his books, anger churning in his stomach. He rolled his eyes and hit the sneering Lotor with his notepad as he made his way towards the classroom door.

He passed the grumpy looking counsellor’s assistant as he strolled to the open office, listening as counsellor Iverson mumbled quietly.

‘Swollen,’ Iverson pondered. ‘Turgid…’

‘Tumescent?’ He suggested as he entered the office, hands in his pocket.

Iverson looked up and inclined his head. ‘Perfect. So,’ he said, continuing to type whatever the hell he needed to use the word “tumescent” for. ‘I hear you were terrorising Mr. Holt’s class. Again.’ He shot Keith a brief glance as the student sat down on the chair at the other side of the desk.

Keith exhaled audibly. ‘Expressing my opinion is not a terrorist action.’

‘The way you expressed your opinion to Rolo Ridgeway?’ Iverson closed his laptop without breaking eye contact. ‘By the way, his testicle retrieval operation went quite well, in case you’re interested.’

Keith put on his best poker face. ‘I still maintain that he kicked himself in the balls.’

Iverson held his gaze a second longer before looking away. ‘The point is, Keith…’ He picked up a mug painted with colourful lions. Keith raised his eyebrows in mock expectation. ‘People perceive you as somewhat…’ Iverson made vague gesture with his right hand.

‘Tempestuous?’ Keith offered.

‘“Heinous Jerk” is the term used most often.’

Keith glanced to the side and sneered, pretending not to be fazed by Iverson’s use of overt language.

‘You might want to work on that.’ Iverson put down his cheesy lion-mug and looked at Keith with raised eyebrows. Keith just gazed back silently. ‘Thank you,’ the counsellor said and turned back to his laptop.

‘As always,’ Keith commented, finding himself less impressed with Iverson every time they met. ‘Thank you for your excellent guidance.’ He took his bag and got to his feet, making his way to the door. ‘I’ll let you get back to Reginald’s quivering member,’ he added, feeling immensely satisfied at the gasp he could hear as he strolled out of the office.

…

Lotor stood with his usual squad, letting his gaze wander over the schoolyard crowd like the prince he was. He had just told one of his favourite modelling anecdotes when Zethrid nudged his shoulder. He wanted to glare at the bulky girl, but she just nodded towards something.

‘Virgin alert,’ she said. ‘Your favourite.’

When he spotted Allura coming his way, accompanied by one of her hot lady friends, he smirked. Allura just smiled as she passed them, but her friend definitely threw him the flirty eye. Oh, well, he was just that tempting, he knew.

‘Lookin’ good, ladies,’ he called after them.

Zethrid sneered. ‘Oh, she’s out of reach, even for you,’ she commented.

Lotor stared at her warningly. ‘No one’s out of reach for me.’

Zethrid appeared quite unimpressed by his dark tone. ‘You wanna put money on that?’ she suggested, one eyebrow raised.

Lotor mustered her. ‘Money I’ve got,’ he replied after a moment, then he glanced back at the school’s number one princess striding away. ‘This I’m gonna do for fun.’

…

At the other side of the schoolyard, Pidge and Shiro had watched the interaction between Allura and Lotor.

Shiro had just had his first few lessons and had found that Pidge had not exaggerated her own abilities. She really was a Child Genius. He had also been surprised to find that their English literary teacher was Mr. Holt, Pidge’s father. She’d explained to him that he’d broken his spine in a car accident caused by another driver and Shiro, absent-mindedly clutching his prosthetic fingers, had felt a surge of empathy for the disabled teacher. He also wondered if his prosthesis was the reason Pidge was so forthcoming towards him. But none of that mattered when he saw how Lotor had flirted with Allura.

‘Who’s that guy?’ Shiro asked, pointing to Lotor as a wave of jealousy rushed over him.

Pidge’s face contorted to a hateful grimace. Shiro was surprised she was even capable of such a dark expression. ‘That’s Lotor Ragal,’ she explained as she crossed her arms, hostility in every syllable. ‘He’s a jerk off, and a model.’ She rolled her eyes.

Shiro snorted. ‘He’s a model?’

‘A model,’ Pidge agreed, chiming in with Shiro’s laughter, then tried to bring her face back to normal, which seemed very hard for her. ‘Mostly regional stuff, but he’s rumoured to have a big tube sock ad coming out.’

‘Really?’ Shiro asked, grinning.

‘Really.’

They both chuckled, until Shiro’s eyes unwillingly drifted to Allura. Her blonde mane fell in perfect waves down her back. She chatted happily with a friend.

‘Man, look at her…’ he sighed. ‘Is she always so…’

‘Vapid?’ Pidge suggested and Shiro glared at her.

‘How can you say that? She’s totally…’

‘Conceited.’

‘What are you talking about??’ He looked back at Allura who was now smiling widely, perfect teeth gleaming in the sun. ‘There’s more to her than you think.’

Pidge popped her lips.

‘Look at the way she smiles, man,’ Shiro continued, trying to convince his new friend of Allura’s virtues. ‘And look at her eyes. She’s totally pure.’ He looked back at Pidge who seemed utterly unimpressed. ‘You know,’ he said, ‘you’re missing what’s there!’

‘No, no, Shiro, no.’ Pidge’s voice rose with her frustration. ‘What’s there is a snotty little princess wearing a strategically placed sun dress to make guys like you realise that you can never touch her and guys like Lotor realise that they want to.’

Shiro shook his head, but Pidge continued her rant, waving her finger in front of his nose.

‘She, my friend, is what you will spend the rest of your life not having. Put her in your spank bank, move on.’

‘No –’

‘Move on!’

‘No, you’re wrong about her!’ He protested, then added sheepishly, ‘You know, not about the spanking part, but the rest…’

Pidge snorted.

‘You’re wrong,’ Shiro insisted.

‘All right…’ Pidge nodded, throwing her hands up in mock surrender. ‘I’m wrong? You wanna take a shot? Be my guest. She’s actually looking for a French tutor.’

Shiro stared at Pidge, eyes wide. ‘Are you serious? That’s perfect!’

Pidge looked impressed. ‘You speak French?’

Shiro blinked. ‘Well, no, but I will.’

Pidge looked at him with one of the most exasperated expressions Shiro had ever seen. He didn’t care; this was his shot.

…

Keith was walking to the car park, his best friend Hunk in tow. He tensed, anger accumulating in his chest as Lotor rolled towards him in his shiny, red convertible.

‘Hey,’ the other boy sneered. ‘Your little Emo look is out, Keith.’

Keith glared at him in silence, Hunk behind him fidgeting nervously.

‘Didn’t you read last month’s cosmo?’

‘Run along,’ Keith replied, walking off with Hunk and feeling very, very proud of handling the situation that well.

…

Allura was strolling down the car park, enjoying the approving looks of the student body as she did so. She was accompanied by Nyma, a friend she’d made in her senior year, who was currently experiencing an intellectual dilemma.

‘I know you can be overwhelmed,’ Nyma said, ‘and you can be underwhelmed. But can you ever just be “whelmed”?’

Allura blinked, not sure what to do with such a strange question, surprised at Nyma’s serious tone, but she played along. ‘I think you can in Europe.’

Just as Nyma was about to reply, a car rolled up behind them, the current No. 2 of this month’s charts blaring from the speakers. Allura turned around to see Lotor Ragal, one of the most popular guys in school, smile charmingly at the two of them.

‘Hi ladies,’ he said. ‘Would you sweet young things like a ride?’

Allura almost snickered. Lotor was just as old as them, but due to some… educational issues, he’d had to repeat a class and was currently sitting in with the juniors. Allura wasn’t impressed, but she had to admit that he was handsome, and he appeared to be an overall charming fellow. Nyma beside her was squealing and pulling her by the elbow, pushing Allura into the car before she could even answer. Not that she minded much. She _loved_ a fast ride.

‘Careful on the leather.’ Lotor frowned as they mounted the back of his red convertible.

They both gave a short yelp when he promptly accelerated.

…

By Keith’s bike, Hunk and him watched the scene from afar.

‘That’s a … charming new development,’ Hunk commented.

Bless his cotton candy heart, he was never one to use explicit language.

Keith pretended to retch. ‘It’s disgusting.’

He bid Hunk goodbye and mounted his bike. Just as he was about to leave his parking space he almost collided with another driver. The kid on the quad bike hit their brakes hard and stared at Keith, eyes wide. Keith cursed under his breath.

‘Remove head from sphincter, then drive!’ he shouted.

The kid on the quad blinked, then stuck their tongue out and drove away, but not before giving Keith the finger. He smirked. That kid had guts.

…

Pidge reached Shiro with her quad and he immediately sprinted up to her.

‘You okay?’ he asked, knowing that almost-collides with hot-headed bikers might be some kind of trigger for her. Pidge removed her helmet and shook out her head, but her hair remained stuck in every single direction.

‘Yeah,’ she said finally. ‘Just a minor encounter with the Grouch.’

Shiro frowned.

‘That’s your girlfriend’s brother.’

He stared at her. ‘That’s Allura’s brother?’ Besides being clearly unsociable, from what Shiro had seen, that guy had looked nothing like Allura. How could they be siblings?

Pidge nodded knowingly. ‘The mewling, rampalian wretch himself.’ She sighed and popped her helmet back on. ‘Stay cool, man.’

‘Yeah, see you later.’ He watched as Pidge disappeared down the road, still wondering how Allura could be related to such a hot-headed, angry young man.


	2. To Tame a Beast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro and Pidge find the perfect guy for Keith - but how do they get Lance to even approach Allura's brother?

Keith was sitting on his living room’s sofa, buried deep into _The Picture of Dorian Gray_ when his father (or, truth be told, adoptive dad) approached him, post in hand.

‘Hello, Keith,’ he said, in that distinctive British accent that both he and Allura shared. ‘Make anyone cry today?’ He brushed his impressive orange moustache.

Keith snorted without looking up from his book. ‘Sadly, no. But it’s only 4:30.’

He looked up, smirking, and found Coran smirking back. He watched as his not-really-dad rummaged through a variety of letters.

Just as his mood picked up, Allura returned home, giving Coran a peck on the cheek.

‘Hi, Dad,’ she said sweetly. Keith was instantly annoyed.

Not so much Coran. ‘Hello, precious,’ he replied, smiling widely, still filing through the post.

Keith closed his book to look at her. Today, she was clad in a pink, blue and white sun dress, her hair still in perfect array, despite the wild ride home. Lotor’s face appeared in Keith’s mind, all smug and seductive as he lured her into his car. If Allura thought that she could keep her little adventure a secret, she’d have to think again.

‘And where have you been?’ he asked his sister.

‘Nowhere,’ Allura replied, glaring at him, imploring, he knew, to let the topic drop.

‘Hey, what’s this?’ Coran asked, interrupting their little squabble. ‘Says Marmora State.’

Before he had a chance to further inspect the large envelope, Keith ripped it from his hands, gasping, and began opening it, excitement sending his stomach on a roller-coaster ride.

He pulled out the folder, browsed the information on the first page and yelped. ‘Yes! I got in!’ His voice had gone up an octave but he really, really didn’t care. His head was buzzing from the elation that was his acceptance letter.

‘I got in!’ he repeated, throwing himself on the couch.

‘Er, buddy that’s great,’ Coran said, as he approached him warily. ‘But isn’t Marmora State at the other side of the country?’

‘That’s the basis of its appeal,’ Keith commented, without peeling his eyes from the pages.

Coran gasped.

‘Aren’t you still a junior?’ Allura asked, sounding indignant.

Keith rolled his eyes and turned on his back to face her. ‘Unlike you, I thought about applying early on.’

He turned back to read the words again and again, a wide smile forming on his face.

‘I thought we decided that you’d follow in Allura’s footsteps. Stay here and go to Balmorra Academy. Be a Gem.’ Coran sounded somewhat desperate in his suggestion.

Keith groaned and sat up to look at his adoptive dad. ‘No, you decided,’ he simply replied.

‘Oh, okay,’ Coran said, now an unusually angry edge to his voice. ‘So you just pick up and leave, is that it?’

Keith sighed. He knew this conversation would happen as soon as he’d reached out to Marmora. He’d hoped to keep it a secret for a while longer, though.

‘Let’s hope he does,’ Allura commented, shooting Keith a nasty gaze.

Keith glared at her and fired his shot. ‘Ask Allura who drove her home,’ he suggested to Coran. Allura’s eyes widened.

‘Keith, don’t change the – drove? Who drove you home?’

Keith smirked. He knew how to push Coran’s buttons in the most effective way.

‘Now don’t get upset, Dad,’ Allura replied, putting thick layers of honey around her voice. ‘But there’s this boy…’

‘Who’s a flaming imbecile,’ Keith commented from the sidelines.

‘Hush!’ Coran gestured to him, his eyes plastered on Allura.

‘And I think he might ask me –’

Coran grabbed Allura’s shoulders. ‘Please, I think I know what he’s going to ask you.’ He gazed at her sternly, the usual twinkle in his eyes gone. ‘And I think I know the answer. “No.” It’s always no.’ He turned her around and placed her on the sofa beside Keith. ‘What are the two house rules?’ he asked them.

They knew they weren’t required to answer, so the siblings just let their father continue with his rant.

‘Number one, no dating until you graduate,’ Coran put up one finger. ‘Number two,’ he put up a second finger, ‘no dating until you graduate. That’s it.’

Beside Keith Allura was shaking her head in a lack of comprehension.

‘Dad, that’s so unfair,’ she complained.

‘All right.’ Coran crouched down to their eye-level. ‘You want to know what’s unfair? This is for you, too.’ He glanced at Keith who rolled his eyes. ‘This morning, I delivered a set of twins to a fifteen year old girl. Do you know what she said to me?’

‘I’m a crack whore who should have made my skeezy boyfriend wear a condom?’ Allura prompted.

Keith bit his lip to suppress a smirk. Sometimes his sister _did_ impress him.

Coran paused. ‘Close,’ he finally continued. ‘But no. She said “I should have listened to my father”.’

‘She did not!’ protested Allura and Keith chortled.

‘Well, that’s what she would have said,’ Coran conceded, stroking his moustache again, ‘if she wasn’t so doped up.’

Allura threw her hands in the air. ‘Can we focus on me for a second, please?’

‘When are we not?’ Keith mumbled, but his sister ignored him.

‘I am the only one in school who’s not dating.’

‘Oh no, you’re not,’ Coran replied matter-of-factly. ‘Your brother doesn’t date.’

‘And I don’t intend to,’ Keith added quickly.

‘And why is that again?’ Coran prompted.

‘Have you seen the unwashed miscreants that go to that school?’

‘Where did you come from?’ Allura cried. ‘Planet Loser?’

‘As opposed to Planet Look-at-me, Look-at-me!’ He threw his hands in the air in an impression of the popular girls at their school.

Coran clapped twice to draw his children’s attention back to him.

‘Okay, here’s how we solve this one,’ he said, smirking. He had something up his sleeve, Keith knew. ‘Old rule out. New rule, Allura can date.’

Keith gaped as Allura broke into a wide smile. But Coran wasn’t done. He smiled slyly and pointed at Keith.

‘When he does.’ With that he turned away.

Allura stared at their father, then at Keith. She got to her feet, pointing openly at Keith.

‘But he’s a mutant! What if he never dates??’

Keith leaned back, feeling highly self-satisfied.

‘Then you’ll never date,’ Coran replied, suddenly piping up. ‘Oh, I like that. And I’ll get to sleep at night.’ He turned to face Allura. ‘The deep slumber of a father whose daughter isn’t out being impregnated.’

Allura opened her mouth, but Coran’s beeper went off that very minute. He took a look at it. Keith got up to go to his room, knowing that their father would be off in a heartbeat.

‘And we’ll talk about Marmora later!’ He called after him.

‘Fine.’ Keith waved him off as he reached the stairs, hoping that by the time Coran returned, Marmora would have all but vanished from his memory.

‘Wait! Dad!’ Allura protested. She was clearly unhappy with Coran’s newest decree on her potential love life.

But their adoptive father had more pressing matters to attend. ‘Gotta go,’ he said and grabbed for his bag.

When he’d left the house, Allura sprinted after Keith, calling to him.

‘Can’t you just find some blind, deaf retard to take you to the movies so I can have one date?’ she implored.

Keith studied her coolly. ‘I’m sorry, looks like you’ll just have to miss out on the witty repartee of Lotor “Eat Me” Ragal.’

Allura sighed heavily. ‘You suck!’ she told him and lumbered off.

‘You suck,’ Keith repeated in an, admittedly, poor imitation of his sister’s voice.

…

Shiro was browsing through his French textbook, hoping against reason that Allura was even less capable than him at this dreadful language. He looked up when she put her books on his table. His heart jumped.

‘Hi,’ she said, without properly looking at him. ‘Can we make this quick?’

Shiro wanted to reply, but Allura kept on rambling.

‘Narti Corinne and Sal Jarett are having an incredibly horrendous public break up on the quad. Again.’

Shiro stared at her. Today, her wonderful hair was pulled up into a loose bun that would have looked ridiculous on other girls, but worked just fine on Allura. She raised her eyebrows, waiting for him to reply.

‘Oh, yeah, okay,’ he said quickly, hoping she hadn’t caught him staring. ‘I thought we’d, uh, start with pronunciation, if that’s all right with you.’

Allura frowned. ‘Not the hacking and gagging and spitting part, please.’

She waited and Shiro fiddled with his prosthetic arm. ‘Well, uh, there is an alternative,’ he said quietly, keeping his eyes on the table. His heart was hammering in his chest.

‘There is?’ Allura asked, sounding much more cheerful than before.

‘Yeah…’ He still kept his eyes down as he forced out the next words. ‘French food…’ He looked up at her. ‘We could, uh, eat some… together…’ He swallowed. ‘Saturday night?’

Allura blinked at him, then smiled widely. ‘You’re asking me out? That’s so cute! What’s your name again?’

‘Shiro,’ he replied. ‘Listen, I know that your dad doesn’t let you date, but I thought that if it was for French class, then –’

‘Oh, wait a minute, Hiro,’ Allura intervened.

‘Shiro,’ he corrected meekly.

‘My dad just came up with a new rule.’

Shiro gasped quietly, butterflies hitching in his chest.

‘I can date when my brother does.’

‘You’re kidding!’ Shiro exclaimed. ‘Let me ask you, do you like sailing? Cause I read about this place that rents boats and –’

‘A beaucoup problemo, Shiso.’ She mustered him as if he was from a different planet.

‘Shir—’

‘In case you haven’t heard, my brother’s a particularly hideous breed of loser.’ She paused, waiting for him to agree with her.

‘Yeah,’ Shiro admitted. ‘Yeah, I noticed he’s a little, um, antisocial, why is that?’ he asked, unwilling to let go of his momentum.

‘Unsolved mystery,’ Allura mused. ‘He used to be really popular, and then it was like… he got sick of it or something.’

Shiro blinked. Huh.

‘Theories abound as to why, but I’m pretty sure he’s just incapable of human interaction. Plus, he’s a jerk.’ She shrugged.

No, Shiro thought, this was his chance. ‘Well, yeah, but I’m sure, you know, that there are lots of girls who wouldn’t mind going out with a difficult man.’

‘Lots of guys,’ Allura corrected him.

‘Oh, guys, sure. I mean, you know,’ he continued, making his words up as he went. ‘People jump out of airplanes and ski off cliffs. It’d be like extreme dating, hm?’ He looked at her, hopeful.

Allura frowned. ‘You think you could find someone that extreme?’

‘Yeah, sure, why not,’ he said quickly, only realising a second later that he might or might not just have dug his own grave.

‘And you’d do that, for me?’ Allura leaned forward, putting her hand on his forearm.

Shiro’s heart jumped. ‘Hell, yes!’ he exclaimed, voice suddenly higher than usual. He caught himself and attempted a poker face. ‘I mean, you know, I could look into it.’

…

After consolidating with Pidge, she and Shiro had decided to hold a sort of audition to see what guy in school might be willing to date Keith Kogane. Keith, Shiro had found out, just like Allura, had been adopted by Coran, though, apparently, Coran used to be Allura’s uncle back when her parents were still alive.

‘Now,’ Pidge explained as they descended into an empty basement during lunch break. ‘I have gathered a group of guys, couldn’t be more perfect. Garrison’s finest.’

Shiro was very aware of the hint of amusement that was attached to every word. Still, he remained hopeful, though when he first saw these “fine guys” he had to try very hard not to yelp.

There, standing in front of the basement door were five guys, one looking less interested than the other.

‘Hi,’ Pidge said, grinning her malicious smile. ‘How you doin’?’

No one reacted, so Shiro took the initiative.

‘Would any of you be interested in dating Keith Kogane?’

The first guy laughed as if this was all just a giant joke.

The second one just stared at them, silently, until Shiro was so creeped out that he dismissed him.

The third one was the first to comment. ‘I’ve never been that ripped,’ he said, grinning, and clearly high, and Shiro gave him a shaky smile.

The fourth one was even worse. ‘Maybe if we were the last two people alive,’ he pondered, ‘and there were no sheep. Are there sheep?’

Shiro saw Pidge cross his name off the list on her smart phone.

The last one screamed.

Okay, not that one either, Shiro thought, feeling his hopes sink ever lower.

Later in biology class, they were on the task of dissecting frogs, when Pidge once again brought up Shiro’s failure.

‘Did I or did I not tell you it was pointless?’ she asked, waving a very sharp knife in front of his face. ‘No one will go out with him.’

Shiro’s gaze swept over the crowd, while he wondered what he should do. Suddenly, a guy caught his eye, the same guy he’d run into on his first day of school.

The young Hispanic boy was ignoring his frog (what was he even doing in their class, wasn’t he a junior?) and instead flirted with anyone and anything that came into his field of vision. When a girl slapped him across the face, he just turned to the next guy in sight and shot him a seductive smile. Shiro narrowed his eyes.

‘Hey, hey,’ he nudged Pidge. ‘What about him?’

She turned around, then quickly back, eyes widening. ‘Him? No! No, don’t look at him, okay? I heard he’s a criminal, in with the drug dealers ‘n all that,’ she whispered.

Shiro frowned. To him, the boy looked fairly harmless, if only a bit too flirtatious.

‘Nope, don’t gimme that look. Apparently, he just did a year in a youth prison.’

‘Well, at least he’s horny, then,’ Shiro mused.

Pidge gave him a sarcastic smile. ‘I’m serious, man. He’s whacked. He’s the most notorious flirt in this school. He doesn’t care who you are, or what you want to do with him as long as you’ve got the cash, if you know what I mean!’ Pidge raised her eyebrows.

‘So he wouldn’t be shy around strangers!’

In the background, the boy was pulling a cigarette from his jacket and lit it on one of the Bunsen burners, but his table companion snatched it from him and put it out immediately. The boy just shrugged and grinned, even as his companion shot him an angry look. If that didn’t scare him off, then Keith Kogane wouldn’t either.

Shiro gestured over. ‘He’s our guy,’ he decided triumphantly.

They both looked over at him, but when the boy caught their eyes, they pretended to be very busy with their frog.

After school finished the two of them made their way to the crafts club, since Pidge had found out (how’d she always do that?) that Lance McClain, their future beast tamer, attended this after-school activity. Full of confidence, Shiro walked over to Lance, seeing in him the solution to all his problems. Lance was currently drilling holes into a wooden plank.

‘Hi,’ said Shiro, clutching his French book for moral support. Pidge had told him she’d watch from the sidelines. ‘How you doin’?’

Lance looked up at him, frowning. Apparently he didn’t like being interrupted in his handiwork. Nevermind, Shiro thought, keep on going forward.

‘Listen, I –’ he began, but just as he’d started talking, Lance had decided to take the initiative.

He smirked. ‘Hey, you’re the new kid, huh?’ he asked.

‘I, uh, yeah.’

‘Listen, new kid.’ He placed his drill down and put his hands on his hips, cocky smile in place. ‘If you want to “get to know me”, just tell me when and where. You’re definitely not someone I would deny the pleasure of my company.’ He winked.

‘No, I wasn’t –’

But before Shiro could finish, Lance had reached forward and was now tracing his fingers from Shiro’s chin down to the direction of his belly.

‘Hm?’ he asked, sending up a cocky smile.

‘O-okay, later then,’ Shiro cried and, somewhat hastily, fled the scene.

Pidge followed him, knowing smirk in place.

…

The next day at the cafeteria, Pidge and Shiro were studying Lance from a safe distance. They had both decided that a careless approach might lead to unwanted STDs or other things.

‘How do we get him to date Keith?’ Pidge asked. Though she didn’t admit it, Shiro realised that she was starting to get rather enthusiastic about the whole ordeal.

Shiro was leaning against the wall, hope draining from him by the minute. ‘I don’t know,’ he admitted. ‘I mean,’ he said and pushed himself of the wall to join her at the table. ‘We could bait him with a few bucks, to keep his eyes on the target, you know…’ He sat down and Pidge nodded. ‘But we don’t have any money.’

‘Yeah, well, what we need is a Backer,’ Pidge murmured.

‘What’s that?’ Shiro had never heard that term before.

‘Someone with money, who’s stupid,’ she explained.

Shiro chortled. Then his gaze fell on Lotor Ragal. He nudged Pidge and she followed his gesture. Her eyes widened, impish grin returning to her face.

…

Lotor was entertaining himself and his cohort with drawing the upper body of a woman in sharpie on a lunch tray.

Pidge sat down at their table, earning frowns from every single student already seated there.

‘Hey,’ she made, smiling what she hoped was a convincing smile.

Her gaze fell on something on the table. ‘Is that a peach fruit roll up?’ she asked and reached for it. ‘Because you don’t see many –’

One of Lotor’s personal guards had grabbed her hand and was glaring at her. Pidge knew she couldn’t win a battle like this, so she retreated.

‘Oh, okay. Yeah, alright,’ she said and pulled back her hand.

Lotor stared at her, clearly startled by her outburst of bravery. ‘Are you lost?’

‘No,’ she turned towards him. ‘Actually, I just came by to chat.’

Lotor gaped. ‘We don’t chat.’

‘Well, actually, I thought that I’d run an idea by you,’ she said, talking as fast as she could, which was very fast. ‘Just to see if you’re interested.’

‘I’m not,’ the boy concluded.

‘Well, hear me out,’ Pidge retorted.

Lotor grabbed her chin, turned it sideways and began drawing something on her cheek. _For Shiro_ , she thought, while she fought with her self-control. _You’re doing this for Shiro_.

‘Now, you want Allura, right?’ she asked as Lotor continued his “arting”.

He didn’t reply, which Pidge took as a cue to continue.

‘But she can’t go out with you because her brother is this insane head case and no one will go out with him, right?’ She could feel him drawing lines and she didn’t like what she felt.

‘Does this conversation have a purpose?’ Lotor asked, keeping his attention on his “drawing”.

‘What I think you need to do,’ Pidge said, ‘is you’ll need to hire a guy who’ll go out with him. Someone who doesn’t scare so easily. Someone who’s persistent.’ She could feel her patience waning as Lotor still went on about her cheek. She caught herself and pointed to Lance McClain, who was having lunch with a friend and seemed surprisingly normal.

‘That guy?’ Lotor asked, doubtful, but finally letting go of her face. ‘I heard he ate a live duck once.’

Pidge nodded, adding to the rumour as she humoured Lotor. ‘Everything but the beak and feet. Clearly,’ she pointed over once more, ‘he’s a solid investment.

Lotor nodded and mustered her. ‘What’s in it for you?’

‘Hey,’ she said, shrugging. ‘I’m walking down the hall and I say hello to you and you say hello to me. Simple as that.’

‘Yeah, yeah, I get it,’ Lotor said, rolling his eyes. ‘You’re cool by association.’

Pidge smiled and raised her eyebrows.

‘I’ll think about it.’

‘Great.’ Pidge jumped up, eager to get away from Lotor and his slimy crew.

When she’d returned to her new friend Shiro, he studied her, worried look plastered all over his face.

‘Are you sure this was a good idea?’ he asked.

Had he already forgotten it had originally been him that suggested all of this? Man, that guy was in _deep_ for that popular chick.

‘Yeah, yeah, relax,’ Pidge replied. ‘We pretend we’ll let him call the shots and while he’s busy setting things up, you have time to get closer to Allura.’

Shiro nodded. ‘That is a good idea, yeah, alright. Oh, and Pidge,’ he added, brows suddenly wrinkled again.

‘Don’t tell me.’ She put her hands up. ‘I’ve got a dick on my face, don’t I?’

‘Uh…’ Shiro stammered.

‘Oh, no worries, young Padawan.’ She grinned. ‘I will have my revenge. Not all battles are fought with fists. No one messes with Pidge Holt.’

…

Lance was hanging on the sports field, having a smoke with one of his friends, when a tall, pretty-faced and somewhat slimy looking guy approached him.

‘Hey,’ the guy said. ‘How you doin’?’

Lance knew this guy. This was Lotor Ragal, male model and self-proclaimed prince of Garrison High. He’d never liked him, despite his good looks and he’d always taken him for a shady guy.

Lance ignored him.

‘I had some great duck last night,’ Lotor said.

Lance smirked. Ah, the duck rumour. One of his favourites.

He turned to Lotor. ‘Do I know you?’ Of course he did, but he didn’t have to know that, right?

Lotor’s face fell ever-so-slightly, but then his smooth façade was up again and he was pointing at someone. ‘See that guy?’

Lance’s eyes fell on a weirdly handsome dude on the soccer field. Clearly of Asian descent, he had an athletic built, despite his short frame, and his black hair was a nice contrast to his fair skin. And, heaven behold, was that a mullet?!

‘Yeah…’ Lance said slowly, continuing to study the guy while he took a smoke.

‘That’s Keith Kogane,’ Lotor explained. ‘I want you to go out with him.’

Lance turned to Lotor and snorted. ‘Yeah, sure, L’Oréal.’ He didn’t have to admit that he kind of envied Lotor for his lush mane. He chortled and made eye-contact with his friend Ulaz, who chimed in with the laughter. What in the world was going on in Lotor’s head?

‘Look,’ Lotor continued, now sounding slightly annoyed. ‘I can’t take out his sister, until Keith starts dating.’

Lance nodded. So what?

‘You see, their dad’s whacked out, he’s got this rule where the siblings –’

‘That’s a touching story,’ he interrupted Mr. Slimy, unwilling to listen to his unpleasant voice much longer. ‘It really is.’ Lance paused. ‘Not my problem.’

Lotor suddenly had a smug expression on his face and Lance did not like that. ‘Would you willing to make it your problem,’ he suggested, ‘if I provide generous compensation.’

That made Lance listen up. He was a sucker for easy cash. Grinning, he asked, ‘You’re gonna pay me to take out some dude?’

Lotor nodded eagerly.

Lance snickered. ‘How much?’

‘Twenty bucks.’

Lance narrowed his eyes and looked back to Keith. The soccer player was currently in the process of tackling one of his team members. Hard. Lance looked back at Lotor, eyebrows raised.

Lotor swallowed. ‘Fine,’ he grumbled, ’30.’

Lance made a pondering face. ‘Well, let me think about this,’ he murmured. ‘We go to the movies, that’s 30 bucks.’ He got up and started circling Lotor. ‘We get popcorn, that’s 53. And he’ll want Raisinets, right?’

Lotor groaned and Lance knew he had him right where he wanted.

‘So we’re looking at 75 bucks.’ He took another swipe of his cigarette.

Lotor built himself up in front of Lance, but that didn’t impress him. ‘This isn’t a negotiation. Take it or leave it, Amigo.’

Lance kept his face relaxed, despite the fact that he hated being mocked for his heritage. ‘Fifty bucks and we’ve got a deal, Platinum,’ he said.

Lotor bit his lip, reached inside his pockets and pulled out a 50-dollar note. Lance took it, smirking, and Lotor strutted off.

‘Great practise,’ the soccer coach called in the distance. ‘Good hustle, Kogane.’

‘Thanks, Mrs. Cuthson,’ Keith replied as the team returned to the stands and Lance had to admit he liked the sound of the other boy’s voice.

Lance put out his cigarette and approached Keith confidently.

‘Hey there, hot shot,’ he said and got into the soccer player’s personal space. ‘How you doin’?’

Keith swallowed the swig of water he’d just taken and replied, ‘Sweating like a pig, actually. And yourself?’

Lance didn’t back down despite Keith’s clear communication of annoyance. Hey, he’d been paid 50 bucks. ‘Now there’s a way to get a guy’s attention, huh?’ He shot Keith a wide smile who just rolled his eyes.

‘My mission in life,’ he replied dryly. ‘But, obviously, I struck your fancy, so, you see, it worked.’ He gathered up his bag. ‘The world makes sense again.’

Keith smirked and started walking off, but Lance followed him.

‘Pick you up on Friday, then?’

‘Oh, yes, Friday,’ Keith said, still sounding unimpressed.

Lance smirked, hoping his charming smile would catch the other guy’s attention. ‘Well, the night I take you places you’ve never been before.’

Keith looked at him, face torn between disgust and amusement. Lance decided he could work with that. ‘Like where?’ asked Mullet, ‘the 7-Eleven on Broadway? Do you even know my name, screwboy?’ He increased his pace, but Lance wasn’t that easy to shake off.

‘I know a lot more than you think,’ he retorted.

Keith snorted. ‘Doubtful. Very doubtful.’

He stormed off and Lance slowed to a halt, looking after him. Then he grinned. Lance _loved_ a challenge.

…

Shiro and Pidge were watching the exchange from the stands and as soon as Keith had left, Shiro turned to Pidge.

‘We are screwed,’ he told her.

‘Hey, no, I don’t want to hear that defeatist attitude,’ she protested. ‘I want to hear you upbeat.’

‘We’re screwed!’ Shiro repeated, a cheerful edge to his voice this time round.

‘There you go.’ Pidge grinned.

…

That night, Keith was washing his face in the bathroom, thinking about the weird guy that had approached him earlier. He’d been handsome enough, Keith admitted, but flirtatious Hispanics were much beyond his type. No, thank you.

Just as he was pondering this, Allura entered, studying him from the side.

‘Have you ever considered a new look?’ she asked. ‘I mean seriously.’ She grabbed for his hair. ‘You could have some definite potential buried under all this hostility.’

Keith shoved her hand away. ‘I’m not hostile. I’m annoyed.’

Allura’s gaze lingered on his face for a second longer, then she turned to sit at the vanity.

‘Why don’t you try being nice?’ she asked absent-mindedly. ‘People wouldn’t know what to think.’

Keith felt a tiny stab in his chest, but decided to ignore it. ‘You forget,’ he answered instead, ‘I don’t care what people think.’

‘Yes, you do,’ his sister retorted.

‘No, I don’t!’ he insisted, watching her through the mirror as she started combing her long hair. ‘You don’t always have to be who they want you to be, you know.’

She paused and turned towards him. ‘I happen to like being adored, thank you.’

Keith made a frustrated noise through his teeth, then halted. ‘Where’d you get that make up?’ he asked as Allura started applying pink triangles underneath her eyes. Apparently, that was the newest beauty craze.

‘Dad bought it for me.’

Keith snorted. ‘Don’t you feel stupid calling him that? Coran’s as much your dad as he’s mine.’

Allura’s nose wrinkled, a sign that he’d truly hit a nerve. ‘He likes being called Dad, so I do it.’ There was a sharp edge to her voice, and Keith knew he shouldn’t be plodding any further, but despite himself, he did.

‘Oh, look at you, you’re always so eager to please him,’ he mocked.

Allura turned around again, her face truly angry now. ‘And you’re always so eager to go against him!’ she scolded. ‘Despite what you might think, Coran is a great man, he adopted me when I had nothing and the same goes for you!’

Keith scowled. He knew that what she was saying made sense, but Allura’s pain was different from his. Her parents had died many, many years ago, and she’d been a young child when Coran had adopted her. Keith’s father… well, he’d been a friend of Coran’s and when the cancer was at his final stage he’d begged the other man to take care of his son. Coran had agreed. Keith just felt that sometimes he took his artificial father role too far.

‘And anyways,’ Allura added, voice calmer again. ‘This looks good on me.’

Keith glared at her. ‘Trust me, it doesn’t.’


	3. Battle Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro and Pidge gather information to help Lance seduce Keith.

One afternoon, Keith left his favourite music shop, having just acquired a couple new albums from some promising bands. It was supposed to be a good day, filled with music, books and his motorcycle, but when he reached his parked bike he found none other than Lance McClain leaning against it. Despite his pretence of not knowing Lance, Keith was strangely aware of his Latino classmate, the guy that had only transferred to Garrison High for his senior year. He had a reputation of being easy on the eyes and easier to get underneath your covers, provided you offered some sort of compensation.

Lance was studying his bike, looking mildly impressed with the sporty red-and-black design of Keith’s ride.

When Keith approached him, he said, ‘Nice ride. Vintage rims,’ without looking up.

Keith frowned. ‘Are you following me?’

Lance finally looked at him and when he did, appeared somewhat startled. After a second of blatant staring, he pointed to the other side of the road.

‘I was in the Laundromat. I saw your bike. I came over to say hi.’

Much to Keith’s displeasure, there really was a Laundromat opposite them. He rolled his eyes. ‘Hi.’

When he tried getting to his motorcycle’s top-case to get his helmet, Lance slid in between him and the case. His blue eyes twinkled mischievously and on another occasion, Keith might have found that cute, but right now it was just annoying.

‘Not a big talker, huh?’ Lance asked, way too far into Keith’s personal space.

‘Depends on the topic,’ Keith replied flatly, gesturing vaguely as he leaned against his bike beside Lance. ‘My rims don’t really whip me into a verbal frenzy.’

Lance mustered him with an intrigued air. ‘You’re not afraid of me, are you?’

Keith snorted. Lance was lanky and skinny, and only slightly taller than him. No, he thought, Lance was _not_ the most intimidating human being he’d ever met. ‘Why would I be afraid of you?’ he asked.

Lance leaned in, his face way too close to Keith’s for his comfort. ‘Well, most people are,’ he told Keith. ‘Or at least, they’re… uncomfortable.’

‘Well, I’m not,’ Keith retorted immediately, not backing down. He raised an eyebrow, trying to communicate just how unimpressed he was with the other boy.

‘Well, maybe you’re not afraid of me,’ Lance continued, eyes narrowing. ‘But I’m sure you’ve thought about me naked.’ He winked at Keith.

Keith almost choked, but he was able to catch himself. ‘Am I that transparent?’ he asked with an expressionless face. ‘I want you, I need you, oh, baby, oh, baby.’ He rolled his eyes and shoved Lance away from his bike.

Lance stepped aside, staring at him. Then he threw his hands in the air, shook his head and walked off. Keith smirked and put on his helmet. Good riddance.

Just as he was ready to drive off, Lotor Ragal parked his red convertible right behind his motorcycle. Keith groaned. ‘What is today, asshole day?’

Lotor strode coolly past his bike.

‘Do you mind?’ Keith asked, annoyed beyond repair.

Lotor shrugged pleasantly. ‘Not at all.’

Apparently he’d not understood Keith’s question.

Keith grumbled, then his face set in determination. He backed up, fast, crashing Lotor’s side mirror in the process.

Lotor came running back out of the music shop, staring at the mess with a horrified expression. Lance, who had made his way back to the Laundromat, stopped to gawk at the commotion and laughed heartily.

‘You little shithead!’ Lotor screamed and Keith chortled.

‘Whoops…’ he said and drove away.

…

Lance laughed. That Keith Kogane was really something. What had truly surprised Lance earlier though, beside the maiming of icky Lotor’s ride, was Keith’s mullet. Or, well, lack thereof. The smaller boy had put his mullet up into a tiny ponytail and the sight of that had done something to the lower half of Lance’s body that the upper half did not approve of. This was a deal, a job, nothing more. Lance couldn’t risk getting anything but his head involved. He looked after Keith as he sped away on his motorcycle, leaving the crime scene and a raging Lotor behind.

…

‘Whoops?’ Coran stepped up behind Keith who’d been quietly reading a book up to that point. He put his book down and turned to face his adoptive father. ‘My insurance does not cover PMS. Especially not in boys!’

Keith groaned. ‘Well, then tell them I had a seizure.’ He picked his book back up.

Coran sighed. ‘Is this about Marmora State? Are you punishing me because I want you to stay close to home?’

Keith took to a seating position. This was definitely not how he had imagined his day to go. He faced Coran, anger churning in his stomach. ‘Aren’t you punishing me because my dad forced you to take care of me?!’

‘You think you could leave him out of this?’ Coran asked sternly.

Keith sighed. ‘I will, once you stop pretending you can make my decisions for me.’

‘I’m your father, that’s my right.’

‘You are not my father!’ Keith jumped to his feet. ‘My dad’s name was Jamie Kogane and he died four years ago!’

‘Keith! Your father’s death has been as much of a tragedy for me as it has been for you!’ Coran was raising his voice and that barely ever happened. Keith knew he’d stepped over some sort of invisible line, but there was no going back now. ‘This isn’t about your father,’ his stepdad roared. ‘It’s about you deciding you’d be better off without your family, on the other side of the country!’

‘Well, maybe I just want you to trust me! I can make my own decisions, so stop trying to control my life, I’m not a child anymore!’ Keith retorted.

‘You’re 17, you have no idea what you want, especially if your so-called decisions are ruled my anger and resentment,’ Coran replied. ‘And do you know what I want –?’

Before Coran could elaborate on that, his beeper conveniently kept him from finishing his sentence. He groaned and looked at it.

‘We’ll continue this later.’ And with that, he walked off, always at the heed of his hospital’s call.

‘Can’t wait,’ Keith said and made his way to his room, glad there had been such an easy way out of their argument.

On his way up, Allura confronted him, looking outraged. ‘Did you just maim Lotor’s car?!’

‘Yeah,’ Keith snapped, still heated from his fight with Coran. ‘Looks like you’re gonna have to take the bus.’

Allura gaped at him. ‘Has the fact that you’re completely _psycho_ managed to escape your attention?!’

Keith just brushed past her up the stairs and rolled his eyes when he heard her shriek, ‘ _Dad_!’

…

Lance was shoving some of his belongings in his locker when Lotor Ragal, with unnerving silence, showed up beside him. He looked very annoyed and Lance was glad he had enough self-control not to jump at the surprise visitor.

‘When I shell out 50,’ Lotor grumbled, ‘I expect results.’

Lance took a deep breath. Starting a fight just because he didn’t like someone’s face was not a good idea. ‘Yeah,’ he answered instead. ‘I’m on it.’

‘Watching that shithead violate my car doesn’t count as a date!’

Lance kept his face very still, trying not to smirk at the memory.

‘Now,’ Lotor closed in on him and Lance really didn’t like that. ‘If you don’t get any, I don’t get any. So get some.’

Lotor turned around and started walking away when Lance called after him.

‘I just upped my price.’

‘What??’ Lotor turned towards him with an expression of utter disbelief.

‘Hundred bucks a date.’ He let the last sound pop on his tongue. ‘In advance.’

Lotor sneered. ‘Forget it.’

‘Well, forget his sister then.’ Lance smirked and studied his fingernails. They were flawless, of course.

Lotor stared at him for a second, then came back, hand rummaging for another 50-dollar note in his pocket. Lance found that very amusing.

‘You better hope you’re as smooth as you think you are, McClain,’ Lotor grumbled as he begrudgingly handed over the money.

Lance snatched the note from his fingers and grinned.

This was almost too easy.

…

Shiro and Pidge found themselves once more in the crafts club room, trying to initiate a conversation with the blessing and curse that was Lance McClain.

‘Go,’ Shiro muttered to Pidge.

‘No, you go!’ Her face was relentless.

‘I went before!’ Shiro protested.

Pidge shook her head and shoved him forward, following close behind. Clearly, she wasn’t going to budge on this and, after all, it was Shiro for whom the success of “Operation Tame the Beast”, was crucial.

Carefully, he approached Lance who was just melting some sort of iron stick over a Bunsen burner.

‘We know what you’re trying to do with Keith Kogane,’ Shiro blurted out nervously.

Lance snorted without even looking up. ‘Is that right? And what do you plan to do about it?’

‘Help you out,’ Shiro prompted.

‘Why’s that?’ Lance’s attention didn’t waver from his project.

Shiro looked at Pidge, imploring her to help him out. The child genius took pity and stepped forward.

‘The situation is,’ she said, patting Shiro’s shoulder. ‘My man Shiro here has a majorjones for Allura Altea.’

Lance sneered. ‘What is it with this chick? She have beer-flavoured nipples?’

Shiro stepped forward, heat creeping up is spine. ‘Hey!’

Pidge put a hand in front of him. ‘I… I think I speak correctly when I say that Shiro’s love is pure, purer than, say, Lotor Ragal's.’

Finally, Lance put his things down and looked at them. ‘I’m in this for the cash. Ragal can plow whoever he wants.’

‘Okay,’ Shiro spoke up. ‘There will be no plowing!’

Pidge once again held him back. ‘McClain. Lance.’

Lance walked off and the two of them followed the Junior as he went to another desk to retrieve some things apparently necessary for his project.

‘Let me explain something to you here.’ Pidge tried to get Lance to look at her. ‘We set this whole thing up so Shiro can get the girl. _Shiro_.’ She pointed at him. ‘Lotor is just a pawn.’

Lance studied them, curiosity and amusement mixed in his expression. ‘So, you two are gonna help me tame the wild beast.’

‘Absolutely,’ Shiro agreed.

Lance looked only vaguely persuaded by his enthusiasm.

‘We’ll do some research,’ Pidge piped in, ‘we’ll find out what she likes. We’re your guys.’ She grabbed Shiro’s shoulders. At least she tried. She barely reached up to his chest.

Shiro nodded, feeling slightly nervous as Lance let his clear blue eyes scan them. ‘And she means that in a strictly non-prison-movie type of way!’

Lance frowned at him and Shiro felt his frustration grow. Oh, goddamn, why was that boy so uncooperative?

‘Let’s start here.’ Pidge pulled a yellow flyer out of her pocket, drawing Lance’s eyes towards her. ‘Now, Friday night, Varkon Lozenstein is having a party. It’s the perfect opportunity.’

Lance blinked. ‘Perfect opportunity for what?’

‘For you to ask out Keith!’

Lance put his tools down and gazed at them for a second. ‘I’ll think about it.’

When he’d stalked off, Pidge smirked at Shiro. ‘And for a little payback…’

She pulled another flyer out of her backpack that looked almost exactly like the one she held in her right hand. There was somewhat of a difference, though. The left flyer announced a wine and cheese party solely for future MBA’s. The right flyer had kept the time, place and name of the host, but it announced, in big, bold, letters: **FREE BEER PARTY!**

At lunch break, Pidge and Shiro spread the flyers in the entire school, sparking a frenzy of pre-party buzz.

…

‘Now, this is really important, okay?’ Lotor looked imploringly at Allura as he pulled out two photographs of his. One showed him in a white shirt, one in a black, otherwise there was absolutely no difference. ‘Which one do you like better?’

Allura stared at him. He appeared so entirely serious that she could only smile at him shakily.

‘I think I like the white shirt better…’ she suggested.

Lotor nodded. ‘Yeah, it’s… it’s more…’

‘Pensive,’ Allura suggested.

Lotor frowned. ‘Damn. I was going for thoughtful.’

She blinked. _Really?_

‘So.’ He looked up. ‘Are you going to Varkon Lozenstein’s thing on Friday night?’

Allura gave him a small smile. ‘Yeah, I might.’

He beamed at her. ‘Good, ‘cause, you know, I’m not gonna bother if you won’t be there.’

A warm feeling spread in her chest as she returned his smile.

‘See you there,’ Lotor said.

‘Okay.’

‘All right.’

Allura left him and, as she turned around to look back at him, he gave her a confident nod.

Little did she see that he winked at himself in the mirror as soon as she’d disappeared behind a corner.

…

‘So, have you heard about Varkon Lozenstein’s party?’

Allura and Shiro were taking a post-French-lesson walk behind the school and Shiro was proud he’d found the courage to bring up the event.

‘Yes,’ Allura replied. ‘And I really, really, _really_ want to go.’

Shiro jumped off a small ledge and held his hand out for Allura to help her down. She took it gratefully and Shiro’s heartbeat accelerated from the simple touch. Today her hair was done in a half-up style and it really brought out her clear blue eyes.

‘But you know I can’t,’ she continued when they were on the same level again. ‘Not unless my brother does.’ She let go of his hand and Shiro felt a lingering heat in his palm.

‘Yeah,’ he replied, scratching the back of his head. ‘I know. I’m working on that, but so far, you know, he’s not going for my guy… Um, he’s not –’

‘A Shakira fan? No. I found a picture of Jared Leto in his drawer once so I’m pretty sure he’s about as straight as a rainbow.’

‘Okay, so,’ Shiro concluded eagerly, ‘that’s the kind of guys he likes, like… pretty guys?’

‘I don’t know.’ Allura shook her head. ‘All I’ve ever heard him say is that he’d die before dating a guy that smokes.’

Shiro gaped and made a mental note. ‘Okay, alright, no smoking. What else?’ he prompted.

Allura stared at him, somewhat repulsed. ‘You’re asking me to investigate the inner workings of my brother’s twisted mind?’ She paused. ‘I don’t think so.’

Shiro hesitated. He really didn’t want to upset her. ‘Well, nothing else has worked,’ he told her meekly. ‘I mean, we need to go behind enemy lines here.’

And so the two of them found themselves in Keith’s room about half an hour later. Allura was confidently ripping open drawers and filing through anything she could find. Shiro was standing around sheepishly, uncomfortable at the thought of destroying another guy’s privacy with his own hands.

‘Okay, here we go,’ she said, pulling something from Keith’s desk. ‘Class schedule, reading list, date book, concerts tickets…’ She put the documents into Shiro’s hands and walked over to continue with Keith’s wardrobe. ‘Ah ha!’ she cried and pulled out a pair of fleeting black fabric. ‘Black t-string.’

Shiro stared, mouth dry. ‘What does that tell us?’

Allura smirked. ‘He wants to have sex some day, that’s what.’

‘You… he could just like the…’

Allura raised an eyebrow. ‘You don’t buy a t-string unless you want someone to see it,’ she explained.

Startled, Shiro looked to the floor. Then, hopeful, he raised his head to look at Allura. ‘So… Can I see your room?’

She stared at him, eyes wide. ‘No.’

Her immediate rejection drove a knife in his heart and she seemed to notice.

She pulled some loose hair behind her ear. ‘A girl’s room is very personal.’

Shiro nodded, somewhat reconciled. ‘Oh, okay,’ he murmured.

…

At night, Pidge picked Shiro up from his place and drove them both to a shady looking bar at the edge of town. People gaped openly as they entered the questionable establishment, but Shiro trudged on, determined to do anything to get a chance to go out with Allura. Nevertheless, he and Pidge tried to avoid eye contact as much as possible. Shiro just hoped no one would ask them for IDs.

‘Wow,’ he muttered, looking around carefully. ‘Is this what a bar looks like?’

He reached out to take a handful of peanuts from the counter and Pidge immediately slapped his hand, causing the snack to clatter to the ground.

‘Don’t touch anything,’ she hissed. ‘You might get hepatitis.’

Shiro frowned at her, but followed as she stepped into the next room, which was filled with snooker tables. People where occupying every single one, some of them undoubtedly playing for more than just fun.

They approached Lance who was leaning against one of the tables, watching them as they stepped closer. He’d messaged Pidge earlier where to find him.

‘So,’ he asked when they were in earshot. ‘What do you got for me?’

Shiro sighed. ‘A little insight into a very complicated guy.’

Lance reached out and took a sip of beer from a glass he’d lifted off the table. They watched silently as he raised a cigarette to his lips with his other hand.

‘All right,’ Shiro said, looking at the smoke. ‘First thing. Keith hates smokers.’ Hesitantly, he snatched the cigarette from Lance and put it out in an ashtray behind him.

Lance stared at him. ‘So you’re telling me I’m a…’ He made a disgusted face. ‘ _Non_ -smoker?’

‘Yes,’ Pidge piped up, causing Lance to look down at her. ‘Well, just for now,’ she added quickly. ‘For the money,’ she reminded him and Lance immediately appeared somewhat more compliant.

‘And, um, and here’s another problem,’ Shiro said, trying to keep the momentum. ‘Allura said that Keith likes pretty guys.’

He glanced at Pidge who nodded in an affirming sort of way.

Lance gaped at them, switching from Shiro to Pidge and back to Shiro.

He stepped away from the table and built himself up in front of them. ‘Are you telling me I’m not a pretty guy?’ he asked, eyes daring them to agree.

‘Ye- no, he’s very pretty!’ Pidge said, looking back at Shiro for confirmation.

‘Yea –’

‘This is a gorgeous guy.’ She frantically gestured at Lance, clearly afraid to upset him in any way.

‘I just wasn’t sure!’ Shiro said quickly. ‘I didn’t know.’

Pacified, Lance sat back down, still mustering them with unblinking eyes. He took another sip of beer.

‘Alright,’ Shiro continued, judging it safe to go on. ‘Yeah, okay, here’s this.’

He pulled a list from his pocket and both he and Pidge studied it.

‘Likes: Thai food, queer prose and angry emo music of the rock persuasion.’ He looked up and handed Lance the paper. ‘Here’s a list of CDs he has in his room.’

Lance read it briefly. ‘So I’m supposed to buy him some noodles and a book and sit around listening to dudes who can’t play their instruments right?’

Shiro blinked, but much to his relief, Pidge intervened.

‘Have you ever been to Club Voltron?’

Lance gaped at her, mouth open wide.

‘His favourite band’s playing there tomorrow night,’ Shiro added.

Lance shook his head briefly. ‘I can’t be seen at Club Voltron, alright?’

‘But he’ll be there,’ Shiro insisted. ‘He’s got tickets.’

Pidge nodded in agreement. ‘Listen, assail your ears for one night.’

They both looked at Lance imploringly. The other boy clicked his tongue.

Then, Shiro remembered something. ‘He has a black t-string!’

Lance caught his eye.

‘If that helps.’

‘Couldn’t hurt, right?’ Pidge suggested, chuckling and hitting Lance on the arm.

…

The following night, Lance entered Club Voltron, still somewhat startled that he’d chosen to pursue the two seniors’ plan. He didn’t tell them, but they’d started growing on him somewhat.

The club was dark, smoky and filled with angry looking people clad in all the different shades of black available on the market. Lance squinted when the heavy music reached his ears, droning out everything else. Ugh. Then Shiro’s words replayed in his mind, as they had a few times already. _He has a black t-string_. Well, that certainly did help.

He stepped up to the dance floor, trying to spot Mullet in the sea of people that were jumping up and down in front of the stage. He found him right at the singer’s feet, his best friend Hunk in tow, dancing without a care in the world. A breath hitched in Lance’s throat. Like before, Keith had pulled his stupid mullet into a baby ponytail that looked ridiculously good on him. He was swinging his hips in a carefree way Lance had never expected of him and a strange sensation curled up in his stomach. Keith was grinning, pulling Hunk towards him and away. Damn, that boy could smile! Lance felt a warm smile spreading on his own face and furrowed his eyebrows. No, he thought, focus.

To distract himself from the very alluring way in which Keith moved his body, he walked back towards the bar, where the barkeeper recognised him immediately.

‘McClain!’ he called out and shook Lance’s hand. ‘What are you doing here tonight?’

…

Keith was dancing his worries away, enjoying the loud music, angry lyrics and Hunk’s company. It had taken some convincing to get his friend to come along to the concert, but Hunk wasn’t someone who could say no a lot, and in the end, he’d caved.

Keith leaned forward, shouting through the noise. ‘I need agua.’

Hunk nodded and Keith made his way to the bar.

‘Two waters,’ he ordered and froze when he recognised his least favourite Hispanic at the bar. He groaned, grabbed his water and trudged over. ‘If you’re planning on asking me out again, you might as well get it over with.’

Lance looked up from his beer. ‘Do you mind? You’re kind of ruining this for me,’ he said.

Keith blinked at him, taken aback. ‘You’re not surrounded by your usual cloud of smoke,’ he commented, cursing himself for even noticing.

‘I know,’ Lance agreed, ‘I quit. Apparently, they’re bad for you.’

‘You think?’ Keith asked sarcastically, raising his eyebrows.

Lance gazed at him. ‘You know, these guys are no Linkin’ Park or 30 Seconds to Mars… but they’re not bad.’ He got up and walked towards the stage.

Keith gasped, staring at the two bottles of water in his hands, then quickly followed Lance.

‘You know who “30 Seconds to Mars” are?’ he asked, unbelieving.

Lance kept his eyes on the stage. ‘Why, don’t you?’

Keith rolled his eyes. What was Lance’s deal?

‘I was watching you out there before,’ Lance admitted. ‘I’ve never seen you look so sexy.’

Unfortunately for him, just as he was finishing his sentence, the music stopped abruptly and, due to the raised volume of their previous conversation, he pretty much ended up shouting the last word into Keith’s face. Keith could feel his cheeks redden as the crowd around them snickered.

Then he snorted and smiled up at Lance, who granted him a smile in return. And, damn, that smile was different than the flirty ones he’d shot him before. It was wide, and toothy and almost blindingly bright. Keith’s heart skipped a beat.

‘Come to Varkon’s party with me,’ Lance said.

Keith frowned, taken aback by Lance’s sudden request. ‘You never give up, do you?’

A new song started and Lance raised his voice again. ‘Was that a yes?’

‘No,’ said Keith and entered the crowd to rejoin Hunk.

‘Well, then, was that a no?’ Lance called after him.

Keith smirked. ‘No!’

‘I’ll see you at 9:30, then!’ Lance announced, sounding confident as hell.

Keith waved a water bottle at him and returned to the front of the stage, somewhat surprised at his own ambiguous answer.


	4. Party Animals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Varkon Lozenstein's party brings joy and misery.

When Keith walked down the stairs to get a glass of water, he heard Allura and Coran argue in the hallway. No doubt Coran had found out that Allura and her friend Nyma had attempted to slip out of the house and go to Varkon’s party. He arrived at the bottom of the stairs and his adoptive dad addressed him immediately.

‘You know anything about a party?’

Keith just shrugged, continuing to make his way to the kitchen. He didn’t care for the party, or for Allura’s popularity shenanigans.

‘People expect me to be there!’ Allura piped up.

‘Keith’s not going, you’re not going,’ Coran insisted.

Allura stormed towards Keith, grabbing his shoulder. ‘Why can’t you be normal?’

Keith put his hands on his hips. ‘Define “normal”.’

‘Varkon Lozenstein’s party is normal,’ Allura replied immediately.

‘What’s a Varkon Lozenstein?’ Coran asked and Nyma attempted to answer, but Keith intervened.

‘Varkon’s party is just a lame excuse for all the idiots at our school to drink beer and rub up against each other in hopes of distracting themselves from the pathetic emptiness of their meaningless –’

‘Meaningless, consumer-driven lives,’ Allura and Nyma finished his sentence in unison.

Keith glared at them and huffed. Allura grabbed him by the arm and dragged him into a corner.

‘Can you,’ she asked, ‘for just one night, forget that you’re completely wretched and just be my brother?’

Keith sighed.

‘Please?’

He bit the inside of his cheek. Yes, Keith thought, he was aware that he was being unfair towards Allura and that maybe she should be able to make some sort of “normal” teenage experiences. But on the other hand: _Varkon’s party._

‘Please?’ she repeated, eyes wide and imploring.

Keith gazed at her, torn between his brotherly affection for Allura and the annoying prospect that was the party.

‘Come on, Keith, please do this for me.’

He pondered and suddenly, out of nowhere, Lance’s smiling face popped into his head. He wrinkled his nose. _Really?_ ‘Fine, I’ll make an appearance.’ He granted her a faint smile.

Allura’s eyes went even bigger and suddenly Keith found himself caught between the arms of two squealing teenage girls. He stiffened at the contact, but smirked. Oh, what the hell.

‘It’s starting,’ Coran muttered, desperate.

‘It’s just a party, Dad,’ Allura told him, glee in her voice.

Coran paused. ‘I want you to wear the belly.’

Keith snorted as Allura’s expression went from exhilarated to horrified.

‘Dad, no!’

But Coran was already walking off to retrieve the belly. ‘Not all night,’ he told her. ‘Just around the living room for a minute so you can understand the full weight of your decisions.’

Allura stretched out her arms in semi-expectation as Coran returned with the exact replica strap-on of a woman’s pregnant belly. ‘I am perfectly aware –’

‘Listen to me,’ Coran implored, as he fastened the belly around Allura. It looked hideous on her, especially considering the fact that she was wearing a short, pink minidress. ‘Every time you even think about kissing a boy, I want you to picture wearing this under your halter top.’

Allura groaned. ‘You are so completely unbalanced sometimes.’

During their little exchange, Keith had gathered his things. ‘We’re going now,’ he called, grabbing their father’s car keys so he could drive himself and the two girls to the party.

‘Alright, wait a minute.’ Coran approached him, finger held high. ‘No drinking, no drugs, no kissing, no tattoos, no piercings, no ritual animal slaughters of any kind.’ His face blanched. ‘Oh, quiznak, I’m giving them ideas.’

‘Dad!’ Allura turned around and Coran stalked off into the living room.

Keith opened the front door, already annoyed at his own decision, and choked when he was looking into the grinning face of Lance McClain.

‘What are you doing here?’ he asked.

‘9:30, right?’ Lance raised his eyebrows. ‘Oh, I’m early.’

Keith frowned. That guy had really taken him by his ambiguous words, huh? ‘Whatever, I’m driving.’ He pressed through the door beside Lance.

The other boy glanced back into the corridor. ‘Who knocked up your sister?’

…

Shiro and Pidge were getting ready for the party, though, “getting ready”, for Pidge, was changing from her usual green-and-white t-shirt into an entirely green shirt. Shiro was more cautious, attempting to look a little dressed-up for Allura. He had chosen a black shirt to wear over a pair of dark blue jeans and was currently tugging his white strand of hair into place. Ever since the accident in which he’d lost his arm this one strand had re-grown white, as opposed to the rest of his black hair.

‘So then Allura says that I was right,’ he told Pidge, who already looked annoyed, but Shiro didn’t mind. He knew his friend would listen to him anyway. ‘She didn’t wear the Kenneth Coles with that dress because she thought that she was mixing genres, right?’

Pidge pretended to retch.

‘And the fact that I noticed, and this is a direct quote, listen,’ he looked at Pidge who rolled her eyes. ‘“Really meant something”.’

‘You told me that part already,’ Pidge commented dryly.

Shiro wrinkled his nose; he couldn’t help it, he felt that Allura and him were soon going to get to the next stage in their relationship, and it left his heart beating at high-speed constantly.

‘I’ve been thinking about her all the time!’

‘I know,’ Pidge said, one eyebrow raised. ‘Princess Allura is all we ever talk about.’

Shiro studied her, suddenly realising that he might be slightly too self-absorbed ever since their plan was starting to go into the right direction.

‘Sorry,’ he said meekly.

Pidge looked up at him, eyes searching for signs of sincerity, no doubt, and apparently she believed him, because she sighed and replied, ‘Whatever, not that I know what it’s like to be in love anyway, so who am I to judge?’

…

At Varkon’s party, Lance and Keith were making their way through the crowd. Lance followed as Keith walked up a flight of stairs to the first floor.

A girl caught to him in a frantic, intoxicated hug. ‘Kiss me!’ she demanded.

Lance took her by the shoulders and gently pushed her into another’s arms. ‘Kiss him.’

‘Okay!’ She flung her arms around the other guy and started making out with him.

‘Good,’ Lance commented, speeding up to catch up with Keith again.

He watched as Lotor approached Keith and waited, staying in the background, though he kept just close enough to hear their conversation through the noise of the party.

‘Sweet,’ Lotor commented as he stepped up to Mullet. Keith stopped and Lance saw him tense. He frowned; that was not how Mullet boy usually reacted. Lotor circled him. ‘Looking good tonight, hot shot,’ he slurred.

‘Wait!’ Keith gasped. ‘Was that… did your hairline just recede.

Lance snorted quietly. Man, that guy had some good comebacks.

Lotor unconsciously led his fingers to his forehead, but grabbed Keith’s arm as he attempted to walk away. Lance tensed; he was ready to intervene if needed.

‘Hey!’ Lotor called, ‘where are you going?’

‘Away.’ Keith crossed his arms.

‘Your sister here?’

Keith’s eyes narrowed, his mouth receding into a thin line. Lance didn’t think he’d ever seen him so genuinely furious. ‘Stay away from my sister,’ he hissed.

‘Oh,’ Lotor shrugged. ‘I’ll stay away from your sister.’ Then he stepped closer to Keith, smug smile in place. ‘But I can’t guarantee she’ll stay away from me.’

Lance balled his fists. He definitely felt like pulling Lotor away from Keith. Luckily for him, just that moment, someone ran into the room, yelling, ‘Fight!’

Lotor perked up, chiming in with the shouting. ‘Fight!’ He turned to run and gawk at the scene.

Keith pressed through the crowd into another room, while Lance was swept away by the momentum, unable to return to his date.

…

Keith was walking around the party, annoyed at the noise, annoyed at the masses of people, annoyed at himself for giving in to Allura’s plea. Also, he’d lost Lance and unfortunately that made him even grumpier.

Just as he strolled into another room, he heard Lotor’s voice once again. ‘Hey Keith,’ he called out, ‘look who’s found me!’

He turned around to see Allura and Lotor standing together in a corner of the room Lotor’s arm around Allura’s shoulders. His sister smiled at him shyly as the two of them passed him and walked off into another direction. In that moment, Keith made a decision.

‘Allura, wait!’ He grabbed her arm.

‘Please do not address me in public!’ Allura snapped, and pulled her hand away.

‘No, there’s something I need to tell you,’ he insisted.

But Allura wasn’t listening. ‘Look, I am busy enjoying my adolescence,’ she argued, ‘so scamper off and do the same.’

‘Bu-bye,’ Lotor said and snatched Allura off Keith.

Someone passed him with a tray full of shot glasses.

‘Want one?’ the guy offered.

Keith grabbed a glass and downed the drink in one, hoping it would delete the picture of Allura in Lotor’s arms from his mind.

…

Lance had finally caught up to Keith again, only to find him doing some mysterious shot he’d just snatched off some guy’s tray.

‘Right on, bro!’ tray guy commented.

‘What’s this?’ Lance demanded, but tray guy just clampered away.

Keith coughed.

‘I’ve been looking all over the place for you!’ Lance told him.

Keith made a face at him. ‘I’m getting trashed, man. Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do at a party?’

Lance frowned. What was wrong with Mullet? ‘I dunno, I say do what you wanna do.’

Keith snorted. ‘Funny.’ But he didn’t sound amused. ‘You’re the only one. Later.’ He stalked off and as he passed tray guy again, grabbed for another shot glass.

Lance watched him disappear up the stairs, a worried feeling churning in his gut. He didn’t like this side of Keith, he decided. Didn’t like it at all.

…

Pidge was jumping around the place, clearly enjoying the music and clearly not caring what anyone thought of her. That was one of the things Shiro liked about her. He patted her shoulder to grab her attention.

‘Hey,’ he said. ‘Hey, have you seen her around anywhere?’

‘Who?’ she asked innocently and Shiro furrowed his eyebrows. Pidge smirked. ‘Relax,’ she told him. ‘Relax, it’s fine.’ Then her eyes caught something behind Shiro’s back and she inclined her head in the direction. ‘Follow the love.’

Shiro turned around and saw Allura and Nyma walking down the stairs, giggling happily. Allura looked stunning. She wore a pink minidress, had put her hair up into a fluffy ponytail and had decorated her cheeks right beneath her eyes with pink triangles. Shiro’s mouth went dry. Why did she have to be so breathtakingly beautiful?

He stepped up to her. ‘Hi, Allura.’

The girls halted and Allura stared at him, eyes wide.

‘Oh, hi, Shiro…’ she muttered. ‘Um,’ she pulled her friend in front of him. ‘You know Nyma?’

‘Uh, yeah,’ Shiro said, taken aback by her hesitant reaction. ‘Yeah, I think, uh, we’ve got art together, right…?’

‘Neat,’ Nyma replied, though she did not sound very happy. She turned to gape at Allura and shook her head.

‘So, uh.’ Shiro turned back to Allura. ‘You – you really look amazing,’ he stammered.

Allura broke into a slow, timid smile. ‘Thanks.’

‘And we all know I look amazing.’ From the stairwell, Lotor Ragal strolled over to join their little group.

Nyma laughed at his lame joke. ‘Yeah,’ she breathed.

But Lotor’s sight was clearly set on her friend. ‘Allura, let’s go,’ he said, putting an arm around her waist.

Shiro felt hot anger run down his spine. What the hell?

‘We’re all congregating around Mr. Cuervo,’ Lotor continued, clearly unaware of the hostility Shiro was sending his way.

Allura let him lead her away, but she turned around at the last minute. ‘Um,’ she muttered, ‘I’ll see you around, okay?’

Shiro’s face fell as Pidge stepped up to him, gently putting a hand on his shoulder. He thought he could almost hear his heart crack when Lotor turned around to shoot Pidge a self-sufficient grin and a thumbs-up.

…

Lotor was guiding Allura around the party, one arm around her shoulders as he rambled on and on about his modelling occupation.

‘So I’ve got this Sears catalogue thing going, and the tube sock gig, that is gonna be huge.’

She rolled her eyes, unnoticed by him. By now she was getting sick of hearing his self-absorbed voice.

‘And I’m up for a haemorrhoid cream ad next week.’

Allura frowned.

‘I know it sounds kind of bogus, but,’ he let go of her and turned to face her, ‘I get to do some acting.’

He posed in front of her, gazing to the side with an attempted serious expression on his face. Allura was rubbing her aching neck.

‘See what I did there?’ he asked eagerly.

‘Uh huh,’ she lied.

‘That was underwear. I’ll show you the bathing suit one again.’

He looked to the side and made the exact same pose.

‘You see the difference?’ He grinned.

Allura stared at him, then turned away slowly. This was not how she’d imagined this night to go.

Lotor, unfazed, turned to the crowd. ‘Alright, I’ll show you guys.’

She walked off, searching the crowd for some familiar faces and spotted Shiro. He was walking around, a downcast look on his face. He caught her eye and Allura’s heart sunk. She actually liked her French tutor, in a way, and she regretted how she’d treated him earlier that night. Shiro was gazing at her, clearly communicating how disappointed and appalled he was by her. Her shoulders sacked and she turned away to find Nyma.

She found her friend chatting to a group of guys and grabbed her by the elbow to drag her away. ‘Is it me,’ she asked, ‘or does this party all of a sudden suck?’

…

Lance was walking around the house, frantically trying to spot Keith in the mass of unfamiliar faces that stuffed the rooms and hallways. He found him holding on to two more shots and rushed towards him.

‘Hey,’ he called, reaching for his drinks. ‘Hey, Keith, why don’t you let me have this one, huh?’

‘No!’ Keith protested, evading his grasp. ‘This one’s mine.’ He brushed past him.

He wanted to follow him, but suddenly Lotor was grabbing him by the shirt. Lance turned around, annoyed.

‘My man!’ Lotor exclaimed. ‘ _How_ did you get him to do it?’

Lance frowned. He didn’t like the sound of that. ‘Do what?’

‘Act like a human being,’ Lotor replied, gesturing to Keith who was just standing up on the dining table, dancing to the booming beat. ‘Yeah!’ Lotor cried, hurrying into the dining room.

Lance followed him hot on his heels.

Keith was rolling his hips, clearly wasted, and Lance was appalled. What had happened to his cute little Mullet Grouch?

Lotor whacked his shoulder, grinning widely. ‘See this?’

Lance was in a good mood to smack that smug grin of his face.

Keith dropped down on the table and, had Mullet been sober, Lance might have been aroused by the way he moved his body, but right now he was just disgusted by the crowd’s delight in the poor, drunk boy’s intoxicated behaviour. He stood in front of the table, motionless, as Keith continued his little show. Lance thought he spotted Keith’s sister among the crowd, looking as alarmed as he felt. Then Mullet got to his feet again, standing straight up, and whacked his head on the chandelier that hung overhead.

He fell over and Lance caught him before he could slip off the table. Carefully, he lifted Keith to the ground. The other boy hung listlessly in his arms.

‘You okay?’ Lance asked, an ugly ball of worry hardening in his throat.

‘I’m fine.’ Keith shrugged him off to stand on his own, but a second later he was tipping over again. Lance quickly closed his arms around him.

‘You’re not fine!’ he cried. ‘Come on!’

He more dragged than guided Keith towards the entrance.

‘I just need to lie down,’ Keith lulled.

‘You lie down,’ Lance groaned, supporting most of Keith’s weight, ‘and you go to sleep.’

Keith snickered. ‘Sleep is good.’

‘No,’ Lance protested. ‘Not if you have a concussion!’

He led him out of the house, hoping the fresh air might help Keith sober up a little.

‘Come on. Here, sit down.’ He lowered Keith onto the edge of a wide flower pot, crouching down beside him. ‘Sit.’

From the side, Shiro approached him, face contorted in anger. ‘Hey. Hey, we need to talk.’

Lance groaned. He really didn’t have time for the senior’s personal drama at this moment. ‘Shiro, I’m a little busy right now,’ he said, pointing to the swaying Keith.

‘Can you give me a second?’ the older student insisted.

Lance sighed, glanced at Keith and stood up straight. Shiro pulled him a few feet away, but Lance made sure he still had one eye on Keith.

‘It’s off.’

Lance blinked at Shiro. ‘What?’

‘It’s off okay?’ Shiro threw his hands in the air. ‘The whole thing’s off.’

‘What _are_ you talking about?’ The thought off stopping his pursuit of Keith left him feeling strangely empty. He had to admit to himself that he had started growing rather fond of Mullet.

Shiro sighed, looking utterly dejected. In the back of his mind Lance wondered how a guy as tall as Shiro could look so small. ‘She never wanted me,’ he explained. ‘She wanted Lotor the whole time.’

Lance gestured widely, annoyed at Shiro’s meek behaviour. ‘Shiro, do you like the girl?’

Shiro hesitated. ‘Yeah.’

‘Yeah. And is she worth all this trouble?’

He grunted. ‘Well, I thought she was, but, you know, I –’

‘Well, she is, or she isn’t,’ Lance interrupted, getting impatient. He had to continue looking after Keith, not chatting with senior super hot. He put a hand on Shiro’s healthy arm. ‘See, first of all, Lotor’s not half the man you are. Secondly,’ and he really pressed that point, ‘don’t let anyone ever make you feel like you don’t deserve what you want.’

Shiro stared at him, somewhat baffled.

Lance grabbed him by the shoulders. ‘Go for it!’

Then he saw Keith topple over and just about reached him to stop him from falling off his seat. He laced his arm around Keith’s shoulders and helped him up.

‘Come on,’ he told him.

‘Why?’ Keith demanded, following him nonetheless.

They walked up the front yard hill.

‘This is so patronising!’ Keith said.

Lance grunted. ‘Oh, leave it to you to use big words when you’re smashed.’

‘I don’t think so,’ Keith sang, stepped away from Lance and immediately fell to his knees.

‘Keith!’ Lance called out warningly. He scrambled after Mullet to pick him back up off the floor.

Keith looked at him. ‘Why are you doing this?’

Lance swallowed. Why _was_ he doing this? For the money? No, he thought, as he looked into Keith’s dark eyes. There was something else, something _more_.

‘I told you,’ he said easily. ‘You may have a concussion.’

Keith sneered. ‘You don’t care if I never wake up.’

‘Sure I do.’ Lance grinned at him.

‘Why?’

‘Because then I’d have to start taking out guys who actually like me. Or girls,’ he mused. They stopped in front of a swing set.

‘Like you can find one,’ Keith retorted.

How was he still doing this with all that alcohol in his system?

‘Oh, see? That, there.’ He pointed at Keith. ‘Who needs affection when I can have blind hatred?’

‘I just…’ Keith started, eyes glazing over. ‘Let me sit down for a while.’

‘Alright, there.’ Gently, Lance helped Keith sit down on one of the swings. He stepped in between the two swings and held on to the ropes. Keith toppled backwards and Lance’s heart jumped as he caught him and carefully pushed him forward again.

‘Geez!’

‘Whoo!’ Keith chuckled as Lance sighed.

When he judged the situation safe, Lance sat down on the other swing. He mustered Keith for a moment before asking the question that’d been burning under his skin for the entire night.

‘So, why’d you let him get to you?’

Keith looked at him. ‘Who?’

‘Lotor.’

‘I hate him,’ Keith spat.

Lance grunted. ‘Well, you’ve chosen the perfect revenge, mainlining Tequila.’

Keith chortled and Lance smirked.

‘Well, you know what they say,’ Keith started.

‘Nope,’ Lance leaned back on his swing and looked up at the starry night sky. ‘What do they say?’

When Keith didn’t answer, Lance came back up and saw Mullet hunched against the swings rope, arms flopping uselessly at the side, eyes closed. Panicked, he shot up immediately.

‘No! No, no, no, no, no, no!’ He scrambled over, taking Keith’s hands, shaking them to wake him up. ‘Keith, come on, wake up! Look at me!’ When Keith gave no reaction, he slapped his cheeks. ‘Listen to me, Keith, open your eyes!’ There was a panicked edge to his voice that he barely knew from himself.

Keith finally opened his eyes, staring at Lance in wonder.

‘Hey,’ he said. ‘You’re eyes are _so_ blue…’

Lance smiled at him, the almost familiar warmth spreading in his chest again. He chuckled and Keith smiled back. There seemed to be something between them, that moment, and Lance inhaled sharply.

Then Keith leaned down and vomited on Lance’s shoes.

Lance sighed, fairly disgusted, but he sat back down on his swing and gently patted Keith’s mullet-head as he continued to empty his stomach on the ground.

…

Allura was standing outside the house with Nyma.

‘I don’t know if we should go,’ she said quietly.

Lotor came up behind them. ‘Hey, a bunch of us are going to Jarrett’s. Ready?’

‘Um…’ Allura glanced at her watch. ‘I have to be home in twenty minutes.’

Nyma didn’t lose a heartbeat. ‘Well, I don’t have to be home till 2:00, so…’

Lotor looked at Allura. ‘One more chance.’

‘Oh, man, I can’t,’ she said, in her best impression of Keith’s annoyed tone. ‘Damn!’

‘That’s a shame,’ Nyma said.

Allura turned to look at her friend, startled.

‘Well, you wanna go?’ Lotor asked Nyma.

‘Sure.’

‘Hey, Nyma!’ she cried as her “friend” and Lotor strolled off together.

‘Hey,’ Nyma chuckled, ‘you passed.’

She stared after them, speechless. ‘Bitch,’ she muttered under her breath.

Allura felt devastated, alone and slightly sick.

‘Hey,’ Shiro said darkly as he passed her. ‘Have fun tonight?’

‘Tons,’ she replied with little enthusiasm.

Then she realised this was her chance to make amends.

‘Hey, Shiro,’ she pleaded.

Shiro stopped without turning around.

‘Um, do you think you could give me a ride home?’ she asked hesitantly.

…

Keith was sitting on the passenger’s seat of his father’s car, somewhat sobered up from throwing up earlier. They were listening quietly to music as Lance gave him a ride home.

‘I should do this,’ Keith said, pointing at the car’s stereo.

‘Do what?’

‘This!’ He pointed more fervently.

‘Start a band?’ Lance sounded surprised.

‘No,’ Keith rolled his eyes. ‘Install car stereos. Yeah, start a band. My father would looove that,’ he mused and smirked.

Lance killed the engine when he pulled up to Keith’s driveway and turned off the radio. ‘You don’t strike me as the type that would ask your father for permission,’ he commented.

Keith shot him a look. ‘Oh, so now you think you know me?’

Lance smirked. ‘I’m getting there.’

‘The only thing people know about me is that I’m _scary_.’ Keith snorted.

‘Yeah, well… I’m no picnic myself.’

They looked at each other and something churned in Keith’s stomach. And, no, it was not the evening’s overload of tequila. Keith noticed Lance’s soft lips and unconsciously licked his own.

‘Uh,’ Lance interrupted Keith’s increasingly non-PG thoughts. ‘So, um, what’s up with your dad?’ He gestured at the house. ‘Is he… Is he a pain in the ass?’

Keith looked out of the car’s front window. ‘No.’ He sighed. ‘He’s alright, mostly, actually. He just… he wants me to be somebody that I’m not.’ He shrugged. Keith had always known this, but saying it out loud didn’t make it any easier.

‘Who?’ Lance asked.

‘Allura.’ Keith rolled his eyes.

‘Oh, Allura.’ Lance paused. ‘No offense or anything… I mean, I know everyone “digs” your sister, but, um, she’s without.’

Keith gazed at Lance. This might have been the first time anyone had ever told him that Allura wasn’t all that great. His mouth fell open. What was it with this boy that he seemed to be able to tear down the walls Keith had built around his heart with so little effort? He gave Lance a small smile.

‘You know,’ he said. ‘You’re not as vile as I thought you were.’

Which, in Keith’s understanding, was equivalent of a confession.

Lance snickered quietly.

Keith swallowed, then gathered up all his courage and closed his eyes, heart hammering loudly in his chest. He leaned forward, in expectancy, no, maybe in need of Lance’s lips on his own.

But Lance did not comply. Instead, he ignored Keith’s gesture and said, ‘Maybe we should do this another time.’

Keith’s eyes flew open and he stared at Lance with disbelief. Wasn’t he the one that had pursued him relentlessly up to this point? He grunted and stormed out of the car.

Had he looked back for only a moment he would have seen Lance rubbing his hand over his face and leaning his forehead on the stirring wheel in desperation.

…

Shiro pulled up in front of Allura’s house, the silence between them heavy as fog on a fall morning.

Allura took off her seatbelt, but didn’t leave the car and Shiro decided to fire his shot.

‘You never wanted to go sailing with me, did you?’ he asked angrily.

‘Yes I did,’ Allura answered meekly.

Shiro smiled a cold smile. ‘No you didn’t.’

‘Well,’ Allura hesitated. ‘Okay, no, not actually…’

‘Well then that’s all you had to say!’ Shiro couldn’t believe her. ‘Have you always been this selfish?’

‘Yes,’ Allura whispered, seemingly close to tears.

Shiro blinked, searching for words. ‘You know, just because you’re beautiful doesn’t mean that you can treat people like they don’t matter.’

She stared out of the front window silently, so Shiro rambled on.

‘I mean, I really liked you, okay? I defended you when people called you conceited, I helped you when you asked me to…’ He was talking himself into a frenzy now, and he knew it, but he couldn’t find the strength to stop. ‘I learned _French_ for you, and, and then you just blow me off like –’

Before he could continue, Allura had grabbed his cheek and turned his face around and in a heartbeat, her lips where on his.

Shiro’s heart stumbled. His brain short-circuited and he was pretty sure he’d forgotten how to breathe. _Allura was kissing him_.

She drew back slowly and they looked at each other. Allura’s blue eyes were hazy with affection and the sight of them left Shiro speechless. She smiled and, without another word, left his car. Shiro stared after her, head still in a daze. Then a grin spread over the entirety of his face and he slapped his hands on the stirring wheel.

‘And I’m back in the game!’


	5. Amends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance tries to find a way to make it up to Keith.

The next day, Lance had made a decision. He’d picked up his phone and arranged a meet-up with that child genius, Pidge, who was always hanging around Shiro. If anyone could find a solution to this mess, Pidge could. They were sitting on a park bench, far away from the other people, tucked into the shade of a tree so that they could speak quietly.

‘So, what’s up?’ Pidge asked after they’d sat down.

‘Well…’ Lance began. ‘Keith might or might not be mad at me. Like, truly mad.’

Pitch pinched the bridge of her nose. ‘What did you do?’ she asked, sounding exasperated. Lance found it interesting that the fear and care with which she had first approached him were quickly melting away the more they interacted.

‘Er…’ Lance stared at the ground. ‘I kinda refused to kiss him,’ he confessed sheepishly. He thought back to the situation, the way Keith had leaned in, how he’d really, really wanted to reciprocate the gesture, but how his morals had gotten the better of him. He liked flirting, yes, but he wasn’t about to take advantage of a drunk boy. Even if that drunk boy was a ridiculously attractive mullet-head.

‘Why?’ Pidge asked. ‘He finally went for it and you shot him off?’

‘He was drunk,’ Lance defended. ‘He was drunk, and tired, and probably had a mild concussion! Should I have exploited that?’

Pidge blinked. ‘Huh,’ she said, ‘that’s surprisingly thoughtful of you.’

‘Thanks,’ Lance replied sarcastically. ‘But now he hates me.’ He felt nauseous at the thought of that. Since when had Keith started to matter that much?

‘Oh, psh, he probably doesn’t.’ She shrugged.

‘How can you say that? I blew him off!’ He grunted and raked his fingers through his hair.

Pidge snorted.

‘What?!’

‘You really like him, don’t you?’ she asked, looking very surprised. ‘Like, you’re actually falling for him!’

Lance crossed his arms and pouted. He knew that himself. ‘Shut up.’ It wasn’t his fault that Keith was good-looking, funny, independent, clever and an all-around dream guy.

‘Okay,’ Pidge said, still smirking, but in a much more gentle way. ‘Leave this to me.’

…

After having spent the weekend locked inside his room, Keith dreaded entering the classroom Monday morning, and, as expected, from all sides his peers were leering at him, the image of his tabletop dance still ingrained in their juvenile minds.

‘Keith, my buddy,’ one of the white Rastas called. ‘You sway to the rhythm of me heart!’

Keith glowered at him.

‘Dance for me cowboy,’ another guy demanded and the class laughed.

Not enough that he had woken up on Saturday with a killer headache, no, now he had to put up with this humiliating display. And, worst of all, Lotor approached him, sneering widely.

‘Keith, mate, what do we owe you for the table dance, huh?’

If they hadn’t been in class, Keith would have tackled the hell out of his smug face. As it was, he only brushed past and slumped into his seat.

‘Alright,’ Mr. Holt said when they had all settled down. ‘Not that I give a damn, but how was everybody’s weekend?’

‘Oh, I don’t know,’ Lotor replied. ‘Maybe we should ask Keith.’

Someone in the back chortled.

Mr. Holt shot Lotor a blank look. ‘Unless he kicked the crap out of your dumb butt, I don’t wanna hear about it.’

Lotor’s smile diminished and Keith had never been so grateful of their teacher’s sassy personality before.

‘Okay, let’s open up our books to page 73, Sonnet 141.’

They did.

‘Alright, listen up:

In faith, I do not love thee with mine eyes,

For they in thee a thousand errors note;

But 'tis my heart that loves what they despise

Who in despite of view is pleased to dote;

Nor are mine ears with thy tongue's tune delighted

Nor tender feeling, to base touches prone,

Nor taste, nor smell, desire to be invited

To any sensual feast with thee alone:

But my five wits nor my five senses can

Dissuade one foolish heart from serving thee

Who leaves unsway'd the likeness of a man,

Thy proud hearts slave and vassal wretch to be:

Only my plague thus far I count my gain,

That she that makes me sin awards me pain.’

Keith stared at him, eyes wide.

‘Now, I know Shakespeare’s a dead, straight, white guy, but he knows his shit, so we can overlook that. I want you all to write your own version of this sonnet.’

A groan went through the class, but Keith found himself buzzing with excitement. That sonnet had strangely resonated with his soul. He raised his hand and Mr. Holt rolled his eyes.

‘Yes, Mr. I-Have-An-Opinion-About-Everything?’

Keith ignored the nickname. ‘Do you want this in iambic pentameter?’

Mr. Holt blinked at him. ‘You’re not going to fight me on this?’

‘No,’ Keith answered. ‘I think it’s a really good assignment.’

Mr. Hold snickered. ‘You’re just messing with me, aren’t you?’

‘No,’ he protested. ‘I’m really looking forward to writing it.’

Mr. Holt stared. ‘Get out of my class.’

‘What?’

‘Out. Get out!’

Keith choked, picked up his bag and left the classroom, shaking his head in disbelief.

‘Thanks Mr. Holt,’ Lotor said.

‘Shut up,’ the teacher retorted sternly.

…

Shiro and Pidge were standing by the lockers, discussing a funny incident in their earlier class when Allura crossed the corridor. Shiro’s world slowed down as she strolled past them, smiling shyly in his direction.

They held eye contact until Allura had to look forward again, careful not to run into anyone.

Shiro felt as if he was floating several inches above the ground.

…

A few lockers further down the hall, Hunk was putting his bag into his locker when a small student approached him. He looked down and immediately recognised Pidge Holt, Mr. Holt’s daughter and resident child genius.

‘Hey,’ Pidge piped up. ‘Cool photo.’ She pointed at a picture of Hunk and Mary Berry he had put up on the inside of his locker.

‘Thanks,’ Hunk replied cheerfully. ‘It’s Mary Berry, the queen of British Baking.’

‘Neat,’ Pidge commented, sounding surprisingly sincere.

Hunk wondered what she was doing here. Seniors rarely hung out with juniors, even if they, in Pidge’s case, were a few years younger.

‘Listen,’ she said. ‘I… I have this friend.’

Hunk raised his eyebrows.

‘And he likes your friend.’

‘Oh no,’ said Hunk. Keith had called him that weekend and told him all about his disastrous date.

Pidge sighed. ‘Oh, yes.’

‘Keith is pissed, man,’ he told her.

‘That’s what I feared.’ She rubbed the bridge of her nose. ‘But, well, I have an idea, and I was wondering if you could help me out…’

…

Lance and Shiro were sitting on the sidelines of the sports field, watching the boys’ soccer training. Lance found his eyes constantly following Keith, the sight of his stupid mullet both infuriating him and making him long to bury his fingers in the black strands.

Keith completely ignored him, which drove a painful dagger into Lance’s chest.

Shiro sighed. ‘What did you do to him?’ he asked, exasperated.

‘I didn’t do anything,’ Lance replied, looking down at his interlinked hands. ‘He would have been too drunk to remember.’

‘Yeah, but,’ Shiro insisted, ‘the plan was working.’

Lance leaned forward, starting to feel angry now. ‘What do you care?’ he demanded. ‘I thought you wanted out.’

Shiro gazed down and grinned stupidly. ‘Yeah, well, I did, but that was until she kissed me.’ He looked up, eyes full of bliss.

Lance grinned and wondered at his own elation at Shiro’s news. When had this senior’s love life started meaning so much to him?

‘Where?’ he asked nosily.

‘In the car.’

Lance frowned. That was not what he’d wanted to know.

Before they could continue their conversation, Pidge came bouncing along. Lance had no idea where she stored all that excessive energy.

‘Alright,’ she said, ‘I talked to Hunk. I got the scoop.’

Lance’s heart stumbled. He hated himself for being so desperate for the news Pidge brought.

‘What’d he say?’ Shiro asked.

‘“Hates him with the fire of a thousand suns.” That’s a direct quote.’

Lance’s stomach dropped. ‘Thanks Pidge, that’s very comforting of you.’

Pidge made a pained expression. Lance knew it wasn’t her fault, but he was just so annoyed. Mostly at himself, a little at Keith.

‘We don’t know,’ Shiro said encouragingly, probably noticing the dejected look on Lance’s face. ‘He could need a day to cool off.’

Just then, a soccer ball whizzed by between their heads and Lance whirled around, only to see Keith glare at him with open hatred.

‘Maybe two,’ he corrected his friend weakly.

…

Keith and Hunk were walking along the schoolyard, amusing themselves with anecdotes from soccer practice, when another Prom poster caught Keith’s eye. Stomach still churning from the memory of Friday night, he ripped it off.

 ‘Can you even imagine who the hell would go to that antiquated mating ritual?’ He asked Hunk angrily.

Hunk put up a hand. ‘I would,’ he said. ‘But I don’t have a date.’

Keith knew that, in Hunk’s case, the “date” he wanted was Shay Balmor, a large sophomore with a heart of gold. But Hunk lacked the guts to ask her out.

Keith sighed. ‘Do you really want to get all dressed up, so some Drakkar Noir-wearing dexter with a boner can feel you up, while you’re forced to listen to a band that by definition “blows”?’

Hunk stared at him, appalled. ‘Shay is nothing like that! Besides,’ he shrugged, smirking at his friend, ‘she can’t get a boner.’

Keith rolled his eyes. Okay, point to Hunk.

‘You’re looking at this from entirely the wrong perspective,’ Keith argued. ‘We’re making a statement.’

‘Oh, goody!’ Hunk exclaimed in sing-song. ‘Something new and different for us.’

Keith snorted. No one in the world could ever match up to this loving gentle giant of a friend, he mused.

…

Allura was concentrating on aiming her arrow in PE, when someone crept up behind her.

‘Hey there, cupid,’ Lotor said, in an attempt to sound smooth.

Allura groaned. ‘Hey, Lotor.’ Varkon’s party had opened her eyes and killed any affection or interest she’d ever held for him and she just wanted to be as far away from him as possible now. Besides, she thought fondly, Lotor could never, ever, rival Shiro.

‘You’re concentrating awfully hard considering it’s gym class,’ he commented when she didn’t look at him.

She sighed and let her arrow fly. ‘Can I help you?’

‘I want to talk to you about prom,’ Lotor said.

Allura stared at him. How did he still assume she wanted to go anywhere with him? _Especially_ prom?

‘Look, you know the deal,’ she said, happy to have an excuse to blow him off. ‘If Keith doesn’t go, I can’t go.’

Lotor shrugged. ‘Your brother is going.’

Allura snorted. ‘Since when?’ Keith had been in a horrible mood ever since Friday night and she was pretty sure that that cute Hispanic boy’s attempt at seducing her brother had failed grandly.

Lotor picked up an arrow and played with it. ‘Oh, let’s just say I’m taking care of it.’

She took the arrow from him and frowned as he left, wondering what exactly he’d meant by that. For his sake she hoped it didn’t involve hurting Keith in any way.

…

‘Here,’ Lotor said, handing Lance two hundred bucks in cash. ‘This should take care of the limo, the flowers, the tux, the everything.’

Lance took the money hesitantly.

‘Just make sure he gets to the prom.’

Lance mustered the cash, then handed it back to Mr. Slimy. ‘You know what,’ he declared, ‘I’m getting sick of playing your little game.’ He would not play into Lotor’s hands anymore. Of course Lance still wanted to pursue Keith, but that was simply because he’d started falling for the boy. He wanted to do it on his own terms, not because of the money. Not like this.

‘Okay, wait, wait, wait!’ Lotor protested hastily, digging up another note. ‘You, uh, you sick of let’s say… 300?’

Lance rubbed his neck and stared at the money, while Lotor gestured towards him encouragingly. _Three hundred dollars_.

He grabbed the notes and could feel something small die inside of him.

…

Keith was in his favourite music shop, plucking one of the e-guitars from the stands and started to play it, headphones plugged in. Lance’s rejection had shocked him and left him feeling bruised and raw. He wasn’t the kind of person who fell for someone quickly, or someone who could get over a broken heart in a day. No, he basically _wallowed_ in self pity, all by himself, of course. One of his coping mechanisms was playing this guitar, this red-and-black beauty, at one of his favourite places in the world. It was tranquil, and plenty distracting. Suddenly, he felt a shiver running over his spine, like someone was watching him, and turned around, but there was nobody there.

Later that day he was browsing through a bookshop, hoping to find some quality literature to get lost in and forget about his troubles. He didn’t notice Lance until the other boy addressed him.

‘Excuse me,’ he asked innocently, ‘have you seen _The Picture of Dorian Gray_? I’ve lost my copy.’

Keith gaped at him, astounded at Lance’s complete lack of shame. ‘What are you doing here?’ he demanded.

‘I heard there was a poetry reading.’ He waved his hand around leisurely like their last encounter hadn’t ended in a total disaster.

Keith shook his head, anger creeping up his spine. ‘You’re so –’

‘Charming?’ Lance suggested and flashed him a smile.

Keith rolled his eyes and brushed past him. He wasn’t going to this. Not today.

‘Wholesome,’ Lance went on.

Finally, Keith turned around. ‘Unwelcome.’

Lance frowned and stepped up to him, suddenly seeming angry as well. He’d probably imagined this exchange to go much smoother than it was. ‘You’re not as mean as you think you are, you know that?’

‘And you’re not as _compelling_ as you think you are,’ Keith retorted sharply.

‘Oh, someone still has his panties in a twist.’

Keith narrowed his eyes. ‘Don’t for one minute think that you had any effect whatsoever on my underwear!’

‘Then what did I have an effect on?’ Lance’s voice was lower now, intrigued, as he leaned into Keith’s personal space.

Keith swallowed, then glared at him. ‘Other than my upchuck reflex? Nothing.’

He grabbed a book from a shelf and shoved it into Lance’s hands. It was a copy of _Dorian Gray_.

…

‘You’re right,’ Lance admitted to Pidge as he, Shiro and her grabbed lunch together. ‘He’s still pissed.’

Pidge made a self satisfied noise. ‘Of course,’ she told him. ‘I’m always right.’

‘Hey!’ Lance protested. ‘Not helping!’ He needed to fix this and her self-praise was no support.

‘Look,’ Shiro chimed in. ‘You embarrassed the boy. Sacrifice yourself on the altar of dignity and even the score.’

Lance glared at him. Ever since Allura had started being affectionate towards him he thought he’d become the master of romantic relationships. Though Lance had to admit that his suggestion sounded reasonable. Something embarrassing… embarrassing enough to even out a rejected kiss?

‘And what were you thinking of?’ he asked them both.

‘I thought you’d never ask,’ Pidge replied and shot him her best impish smirk. Lance heard his dignity shatter before she’d even explained the plan.

After lunch, he met with the leader of the brass band and snuck him some green notes. The other guy nodded. Pidge had arranged for Lance to get entry into the sport field’s announcement room, where he had access to the tech he needed.

There was work to be done.

…

Keith was in putting all his energy into soccer training, hoping that that would help him forget about Lance when the boy was so omnipresent in his mind. He was actually making good process, since the training was mentally challenging that day, but he jumped when he thought he’d heard Lance’s voice. That was impossible; he hadn’t been infatuated enough to hallucinate about his voice. Or had he??

But, no, it was no hallucination. Lance’s voice sounded from the sports field’s speakers high above Keith’s head.

‘ _You’re just too good to be true_ ,’ he sang.

Keith and the others stopped, looking around for the source of the disturbance. What in the world was going on?

‘ _Can’t take my eyes off of you._

_You’d be like heaven to touch,_

_I wanna hold you so much._

_At long last, love has arrived,_

_And I thank God I’m alive_.’

Someone pointed up at the stands and, sure enough, there was Lance, microphone in hand as he slowly made his way down the steps. Keith’s heartbeat accelerated. Had Lance lost his mind entirely now?

‘ _You’re just too good to be true,_

_Can’t take my eyes off of you_.’

Lance pointed towards the sports field and Keith could feel a hot surge rushing over his face.

Suddenly the brass band that, only a moment ago, had lounged in the grass, was up and playing, giving the musical accompaniment to Lance’s verbal striptease. Around him, Keith’s soccer buddies were yelping and laughing and when Keith looked at Hunk, he saw his best friend grinning with glee. Had he been in on this?

Lance was dancing around the stands and Keith couldn’t help but laugh at his display. He truly never ceased to surprise him.

‘ _I love you baby_ ,’ Lance pointed at Keith, and the other members of the soccer team were gathering around him. Keith gaped, equally delighted and petrified.

‘ _And if it’s quite alright,_

_I need you baby,_

_To warm the lonely nights,_

_I love you baby…_ ’

Now Lance was walking down towards the soccer field, sitting down on one of the lower rows of the stands. The two of them held eye contact and Keith shook his head ever so slightly, smiling in amazement. This was for him and him alone.

‘ _Trust in me when I say_ …’ Lance jumped up and fled when he saw a guard approaching. He ran in long strides away along the stands. Keith grinned.

‘ _Oh, pretty baby,_

_Don’t bring me down, I pray,_

_Oh, pretty baby,_

_Now that I found you, stay_

_And let me love you baby_.’

Now another guard was approaching Lance from the left and he changed his course, trying to evade the two of them. Keith’s stomach was on a rollercoaster ride. Lance had no way of escaping, not really anyway, he’d made a big ruckus and Keith did not want to know how he’d gotten the brass band to play for him. And why had he done it? _He’s apologising to me_ , Keith thought.

‘ _Let me love you_!’

Lance grinned as the guards snatched him up and something in Keith’s heart melted. This was cheesy, this was embarrassing and ridiculous. And Keith loved it. He chimed in as his soccer team exploded in cheers, laughing wholeheartedly.

Lance managed to wiggle free of the guards’ grasps and ran off in the opposite direction, never losing his dramatic edge and smiling down at Keith. Keith shook his head, grinning so widely his cheeks were hurting and covered his eyes. _Oh, God_.

Lance turned around as one of the guards almost snatched him up and sprinted towards the other, giving him a light slap on the butt. Keith snorted. What was wrong with this boy?

Unfortunately for Lance, the guards finally managed to catch him and hold their grip on him and dragged him off the sports field. He gave Keith one last wink and disappeared behind the stone walls.

_Oh, boy._

…

Stuck in detention, Lance kept silent in his seat, but smiled, reminiscing the show he’d given Keith. If this didn’t make Mullet forgive him, nothing would. _Please, please forgive me_! his mind was begging, going around in circles. That damned mullet-head had entirely taken hold of Lance’s every waking moment. Geez.

The soccer coach and current detention supervisor, Mrs. Cuthson, was strolling around the class, making sure everything was kept in order. Lance sighed. This would be a _long_ afternoon. He really wanted to see Keith and find out if his apologetic performance had worked, if he had earned the right to court him once more. Alas, he’d had to wait for several more hours to even get a chance talk to him. Or so he thought.

The door to the detention room opened and Keith Kogane entered. Lance looked up jerkily. What the –

‘Mrs. Cuthson,’ Keith said. ‘Can I talk to you for a second?’

Cuthson nodded. ‘What can I do for you, Kogane,’ the bulky woman asked as Keith strolled to the front of the room, not looking at Lance at all. Lance swallowed. Had he failed after all?

‘Um, ma’am, I have some ideas on how we could improve the boys’ soccer team,’ Keith piped up enthusiastically.

‘Great!’ Cuthson exclaimed. ‘Let’s talk about it later.’

The coach returned her attention to her desk and Keith glanced at Lance, gesturing with his head towards the back.

Keith mouthed something, but Lance couldn’t read him. He shook his head in confusion.

‘ _The window_ ,’ Keith whispered a little louder and Lance’s eyes widened.

_Oh_.

Cuthson turned back to him. Keith quickly smiled at her and Lance quietly reached for his bag.

‘Er, as you know we have a really big game with Hillcrest High…’ Keith grabbed the coach by the arm and turned him away from Lance. He gasped audibly. ‘Your bicep is huge!’ He grabbed the other arm, to focus the coaches’ attention fully on himself as Lance continued his path to the window behind Cuthson’s back. ‘Oh my God, the other one’s even bigger!’ Keith laughed artificially and Lance had to bite his lip not to snort. Of all the things Keith might achieve later in life, an Academy Award would probably not be part of it.

Cuthson seemed pleased by Keith’s compliment either way and so he rambled on while Lance silently made his way to the window.

‘You don’t take steroids, do you, because I’ve heard that steroids can severely hinder your… functions! I mean,’ Keith’s voice went up and octave while the class snickered and Lance really, really had to keep himself from bursting out. ‘Not that I’ve been thinking about your functions. Er, that’s not the point.’

‘Let’s hope not,’ Cuthson commented dryly.

Lance stepped towards the window and one of the floorboards creaked. He froze in shock. Cuthson started turning around at the sound, but Keith grabbed her once more.

‘The point is!’ he said breathlessly. ‘They kick our butts every year and I was thinking…’

Lance was creeping towards the window, only half listening to Keith’s rambling, trying to be very, very silent.

‘I devised a plan that will enable us to finally defeat them.’

‘Which is?’

Another floorboard creaked and Lance dived behind the curtains.

‘That thing that you taught us,’ cried Keith.

‘What thing?’

Keith hesitated. ‘…Misdirection?’

‘I taught you that?’ She sounded genuinely surprised.

‘Yeah, you, or Siegfried, or Roy? Anyway, that’s not important.’

Cuthson, still suspicious of the earlier noises started turning around again and Lance held his breath when Keith grabbed the teacher’s face. He watched with great curiosity as Mullet continued his diversion.

‘The… Think about it! They’re looking left.’ He steered the coach’s face to the left. ‘And we’re running right.’ He steered it to the right. ‘Bang, we score! We win,’ he said meekly as he let go of his coach’s face.

‘Okay,’ Cuthson said, rubbing her chin, finally appearing committed to Keith’s suggestion. ‘But how do get ‘em to look left?’

Lance was had reached his destination now and almost cursed when the window made another sound upon opening.

Cuthson was about to turn around and look at him, but Keith grabbed for him one final time.

‘Like this!’ And he put two fingers in his mouth, sucked them and slowly pulled them out again.

Lance stared. Cuthson stared. The class cheered. Lance collected himself and slipped out of the window.

Keith smiled painfully at his coach. ‘Okay, well, now that you’ve seen “the plan,” I’m gonna go and show “the plan” to someone else. Okay.’ He sighed and turned around.

As he left, the class started applauding.

…

Keith and Lance were steering a paddleboat down the river, laughing heartily at Keith’s “plan”.

Keith felt both elated and, well, a little embarrassed, but mostly delirious. What was he doing? What was Lance doing to him? Did he care? No. He hadn’t felt this exhilarated in a long time.

‘I can’t thank you enough for helping me sneak out of detention,’ Lance said again. ‘Very cool.’

Keith inclined his head, grinning. ‘No problem.’

‘I thought for sure I was busted when I was climbing out that window, I tell ya. So how did you keep her distracted?’

Keith blushed. ‘I… dazzled her with my… wits,’ he lied.

They both chortled.

‘So what’s your excuse?’ Lance asked after a moment of peaceful quiet.

‘For?’ Keith looked at him.

‘For acting the way we do,’ Lance replied, easy smile on his lips.

Oh. ‘I don’t like to do what people expect,’ Keith replied, now more serious. ‘Why should I live up to other people’s expectations instead of my own?’

‘So, you disappoint them from the start and you’re covered, right?’ Lance’s question seemed genuine, not mocking or condescending.

Keith granted him a small smile. ‘Something like that.’

Lance gazed at him. ‘Then you screwed up.’

Keith scowled, tensing. _You screwed up_ , was not a string of words he particularly liked hearing. ‘How?’

Lance looked away over the riverside. ‘You never disappointed me.’

Keith could feel his breath hitch in his throat as his heart skipped a beat. Whow. Sometimes, Lance was much too smooth for Keith’s comfort. He blushed.

Lance looked back at him and smiled and Keith could feel his own lips part as butterflies lifted in his chest. Was this the moment? But then Lance broke their gaze and looked at the other side of the river.

‘Are you up for it?’ he asked.

‘Up for what?’

Lance gestured over and Keith grinned. He was looking at a very old-fashioned Paint Ball park.

…

Lance had been here before, some time ago. This park was made up mainly of haystacks and plastic decorations and the paint balls were large water balloons that were to be thrown by hand, not fired from a rifle. You were allowed to stay on the field even when hit, since the point really was more to get messy than to win. This made the thing way more interesting and longer-lasting than your usual paintball park, in Lance’s opinion.

Upon check-in, Keith and him had been given white overalls and diving goggles and were currently in hot pursuit of each other as they attempted to outdo themselves in their little game. Lance had warned Keith that he was a known sharpshooter, but Keith had just grinned.

‘Try me!’

Just as Lance attempted to launch at Keith, a red paint balloon hit his shoulder and he gasped. Then he aimed at Keith and was disappointed when he realised Mullet had hidden behind a plastic window. The yellow balloon he’d thrown burst against the screen.

Keith jumped up and laughed at him and Lance launched again, this time hitting Keith right in the core. Like this they continued battling each other, laughing loudly and Lance felt beyond thrilled. _Keith didn’t hate him_.

They each hid on either side of some cardboard decoration, slowly rising until they were looking at each other and Lance was so taken aback by the mischievous glint in Keith’s eye that he hesitated while Keith ruthlessly hit him on the head with a yellow balloon, then sprinted off, yelping. Lance hit his back with a green one and ran after him. He cornered him and Keith put his hands up in surrender. Pretending to forgive him, he gestured him over and put an arm around his shoulders. Keith leaned into him and Lance was almost sorry when he burst a blue balloon on Keith’s mullet head. Almost.

Keith freed himself and fled, but Lance pursued him and tackled him into a pile of straw.

He pulled off Keith’s goggles, then his own, and stared at him, running his fingers over his paint-stained cheeks. Keith looked up at him, eyes half-lidded, carrying nothing of the hostile energy with which he’d first approached him. Lance took a shaky breath, then dipped down and pressed his lips on Keith’s. The other boy reciprocated and looped his arms around Lance’s neck, tugging at his short hair. Lance deepened the kiss as butterflies exploded in his stomach, ignoring the metallic taste of the paint or the way the straw poked him in the stomach. Keith opened his mouth, letting Lance in, and Lance took the opportunity to let his tongue run over the other boy’s teeth, white and perfect and oh-so-tempting. His stomach churned with desire and he grabbed Keith’s mullet, revelling in the low moan that escaped his crush’s throat. Keith pulled Lance even closer, pressing their bodies together desperately. Lance drew back to look at Keith and some part of his brain scolded him for this fairly inappropriate PDA, but the rest was much too occupied with Keith. Keith’s eyes, Keith’s smile, Keith’s body, warm against his. Yes, Lance thought, even Keith’s mullet.

In this moment, everything was about Keith and Keith was everything.

He didn’t notice that the other boy had slipped his hand into his bag of paint balloons and he yelped in surprise when Keith attacked his head and sprinted off, giggling hysterically. Lance smirked. Yep, he thought again, Keith _was_ everything. Then he got to his feet to get his revenge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qqs_hsCi46k  
> Heith Ledger's performance of "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You"  
> Because we all deserve a gorgeous singing Australian boy in our lives. (RIP)


	6. Prom or No Prom?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith struggles with his own beliefs when Lance asks him to be his Prom date.

After another 30 minutes of heated battle and some more, rather colourful, kisses, Keith and Lance were returning home, faces washed, but hair still stained and wt. They slipped out of the car, continuing the conversation they’d held on the drive to Keith’s house.

‘No,’ said Lance and grinned. ‘None of that stuff is true.’

Keith chortled as they started walking towards the veranda. ‘Drug dealer?’

‘If chewing gum counts.’ Lance shrugged and Keith grinned. ‘Dead guy in the parking lot?’

‘Rumour,’ He replied, snorting at the memory. ‘Duck?’

‘Hearsay.’ Lance paused. ‘Rolo Ridgezay’s balls?’

Keith laughed. ‘Fact. But he deserved it. He tried groping Allura at lunchtime.’

‘Fair enough,’ Lance admitted.

‘The accent?’ Keith asked, wondering about Lance’s rolling r’s that were like music in his ears.

‘It’s real,’ Lance said. ‘I lived in Puerto Rico until I was 10.’

‘With the goats?’

Lance snickered. ‘Close. With my mom.’

Keith laughed. This whole exchange was so natural and he felt so at ease that he wondered at himself for ever trying to chase the other boy away. That was furthest from his intentions at the moment, he mused. ‘Where were you last year? I know,’ he pointed out, ‘the porn career is a lie.’

‘Do you?’ Lance raised a meaningful set of eyebrows.

Keith stared for a second, unsure what amount of truth might lie in that answer, then snorted and Lance grinned. They sat down on the veranda’s front steps. Their eyes met and for a moment they were quiet, gazing at each other. Lance’s eyes, Keith thought, were the most wonderful shade of blue he’d ever known.

‘Tell me something true,’ said Keith quietly, wanting to get closer to him, and not just physically. He wanted to _know_ Lance.

‘Something true?’

Keith nodded. Their faces were awfully close at this point and Keith was continuously distracted by Lance’s lips. The feeling of them on his was still imprinted in his mind, but he wouldn’t mind reinforcing that memory.

Lance pondered. ‘I hate peas.’

Keith chuckled. ‘No,’ he demanded. ‘Something real. Something no one else knows.’

Lance ran his fingers along the side of Keith’s face and the contact left a burning sensation on Keith’s skin. He longed for Lance to keep going.

‘Okay,’ Lance said. ‘You’re sweet.’ He leaned forward and kissed his neck.

Keith closed his eyes enjoying the feel of Lance’s soft lips against his skin as a shiver ran down his spine.

‘And sexy.’ Lance kissed the other side of Keith’s neck and Keith smirked, even though the lower regions of his body started answering to the gesture. Lance withdrew, but only enough so that his nose lingered an inch from Keith’s. ‘And completely hot for me.’ He smirked.

Keith snorted. ‘You are amazingly self-assured. Has anyone ever told you that?’ Like hell he’d admit that Lance had spoken the truth…

‘I tell myself that everyday, actually,’ Lance replied, face very straight.

They both smiled and now Lance was finally kissing him on the mouth. Keith extended his tongue, wanting to deepen the kiss, when Lance drew back. He pouted and opened his eyes to find Lance gazing at him.

‘Go to the prom with me.’

‘Is that a request or a command?’ Keith asked, annoyance starting to replace the dizzy feeling in his head.

‘Come on, go with me,’ Lance insisted.

Keith hesitated, but remained firm. ‘No.’

‘No? Why not?’ Lance looked slightly offended.

‘Because I don’t want to,’ Keith replied, now frowning. ‘Because it’s a stupid tradition.’

‘Come on, people won’t expect you to go,’ Lance assured.

Keith stared at him, eyes narrowing. Something was off here. He leaned away from the other boy. ‘Why are you pushing this?’

Lance looked at him, fumbling for words.

Keith tensed, a cold feeling running down his spine. ‘What’s in it for you?’

‘F – ah – S-so now I need to have a… a motive to want to be with you?’ The stuttering didn’t make him any more persuasive.

‘You tell me,’ said Keith coolly. There was definitely something wrong, Keith thought, an ugly ball of mistrust forming in his stomach. Did he fall for the wrong person again?

‘Ah, f – you need therapy, you know that?’ Lance snapped, crossing his arms. ‘Has anyone ever told you that?’

‘Answer the question, Lance,’ Keith demanded, voice low. He would not let this go until he had his reply.

‘Nothing!’ Lance cried, ‘There is nothing in it for me, just the pleasure of your company. Okay?’

Lance pulled out a cigarette and Keith stared. He snatched the cigarette out of Lance’s mouth, threw it to the ground and stormed back into the house.

…

‘ _Puis-je vous offrir un panais_?’ Shiro asked Allura in one of their French lessons. _May I offer you a parsnip?_

‘ _Pas-du tout_ ,’ she answered. _Not at all_.

‘ _Où est le crayon de mon oncle_?’ _Where is my uncle’s crayon?_

‘ _Je ne sais pas. Peut-être dans ton entré de cul._ ’ _I dont know._ _Maybe it’s up your ass._

Shiro stared at her, then started rummaging frantically through his textbook’s pages. Allura glared at him. _Damn it, Shiro_.

‘Wait,’ he said. ‘Wait a minute, that’s… that’s not on this page.’

‘ _Let me ask you a question, Shiro_ ,’ she continued in French, confusing him more by the minute. ‘ _When are you going to ask me to go out with you_?’

Shiro blinked at her, then at his textbook, clearly at a total loss of what she’d just said. Angrily, Allura snatched her book from the table and stalked off. _Stupid Idiot_.

…

At the lockers, Hunk was once again intercepted by Pidge, whom he found leaning against the wall when he closed his locker door.

‘Hey, buddy,’ she greeted him.

He smiled. ‘Hi.’

‘So,’ Pidge pushed herself off the wall and looked up at him. ‘I heard you’re looking to go to the prom?’ She raised her eyebrows.

Hunk gulped. _Uh oh_. ‘Uh, well, see, Pidge, I mean, you’re a nice girl and all, but –’

Pidge put her hands up, silencing him with the disgusted expression in her face. ‘Oh, ew, no!’ she exclaimed. ‘I don’t _do_ Prom, okay?’

‘Er…’ Hunk had no idea what she was doing here, then.

‘Okay, no, listen.’ She beckoned him closer and he leaned down curiously. ‘A certain… someone… is part of the tech club I’m in and I heard that you and her are _very_ good friends and that she just longs to go to the prom with you. Well, I told her I’d put in a good word for her.’ She wiggled her eyebrows. ‘What do you say?’

‘Um…’ Hunk made. Did he know this friend of hers?

‘Okay!’ Pidge clapped her hands. ‘Great! She’ll be so excited when I tell her you agreed.’

And with that, she bounced off, not leaving Hunk any say in the matter.

…

Allura was lying down on her bed, sulking. Earlier she had tried to convince her father to let her to prom tomorrow, even though Keith wasn’t going. Shiro had finally gotten his act together and asked her and _of course_ she’d said yes, but not without letting him stew for a little while before agreeing. Payback for taking so long. She’d even found the perfect dress. But, _no_ , of course Keith was not going to Prom, despite Lotor’s “promise”.

The TV was running, but she didn’t really pay attention. All she wanted was to spend a lovely evening with Shiro, chatting, dancing, and, yes, kissing, but that was it. She had no idea why Coran always had to be so against her going out with boys. This was _Shiro_ , after all, he was the nicest, most considerate guy she knew, and there was no way he would try anything Allura didn’t agree with. End of story. But of course Coran had once again elected to ignore her pleas and now she was drowning her sorrows in double chocolate cookies and bad TV shows.

Someone knocked at her door.

‘Come in,’ she said without any enthusiasm.

Keith entered and Allura clicked her tongue. He was not her favourite person at the moment.

‘Listen, I know…’ he began, then sighed and turned off her TV as she’d ignored him in favour of the crappy show that was just running.

Allura sat up, annoyed with the entire world, and glared at him.

‘I know you hate having to sit at home because I’m not Jonas High School,’ Keith continued, face solemn.

‘Like you care.’ _Oh, please_.

‘I do care,’ he insisted. ‘But, I’m a firm believer in doing something for your own reasons, and not someone else’s.’ He sat down on one of her fluffy purple princess chairs and it looked hideous.

‘Well, I wish I had that luxury.’ She gazed at Keith darkly. ‘You know, the boy I really, really like asked me out to prom and I can’t go because you don’t feel like it.’

Keith shook his head, clearly fighting himself over what he told her next. ‘Lotor… never told you that we went out, did he?’

‘Yeah, okay.’ Allura rolled her eyes. _Sure_.

‘Three years ago, for a month.’

Allura stared at him and Keith gazed right back, face utterly sincere. _What_?

‘W-why?’ Allura felt like her whole world was being thrown upside down. That was not the kind of conversation she’d expected to have when her brother had walked in.

Keith snorted. ‘Because he was, like, such a babe,’ he said and rolled his eyes.

‘But you hate Lotor.’ Allura still barely believed it.

‘ _Now_ I do,’ Keith agreed.

‘So what happened?’

Keith raised his eyebrows and pressed his lips together, eyes sliding to the side. She blinked, confused, but then it clicked.

Allura’s mouth fell open. ‘Oh. Oh! Please tell me that you’re joking!’

‘Just once,’ Keith clarified quickly, looking very embarrassed. ‘Shortly after Dad’s first death anniversary…’

Allura could only gape in disgust. Lotor now repulsed her even more.

Keith shrugged. ‘Everyone was doing it, so… I did it. Afterwards I told him I didn’t want to anymore, because I wasn’t ready, and he got pissed and he dumped me.’ Keith swallowed. ‘After that I swore I’d never do anything just because everyone else was doing it. And I haven’t, since… with the exception of Varkon’s party and my stunning digestive pyrotechnics.’ Keith looked to the ceiling.

‘How is it possible that I did not know about this?’ Allura asked, still stunned.

‘Beside the fact that I’m a guy and Lotor is adamant to be straight as an arrow in public?’ Keith smirked. ‘I warned him that if he told anyone, the cheerleading squad would find out how tiny his dick is.’ He chortled and Allura couldn’t help but snort.

‘Okay,’ she said, finally getting the hang of his story, ‘so, why didn’t you tell me?’

‘I…’ He got up. ‘Wanted to let you make up your own mind about him.’

Keith sat down on the bed beside Allura, but she got up and stepped away, suddenly appalled. Not because of what he’d told her, but because of his stupid justification of her sufferings.

‘Then why did you help Dad hold me hostage? It’s not like I’m stupid enough to repeat your mistakes!’ she cried. She knew she was being a little unfair here, but Keith had been unfair towards her for years, so there.

Keith frowned. ‘I guess I thought I was protecting you.’

Allura shook her head. ‘By not letting me experience anything for myself?’

‘Not all experiences are good, Allura,’ Keith retorted, starting to raise his voice. ‘You can’t always trust the people you want to!’

Angered, Allura had walked over to her bedroom door and opened it. ‘Well, I guess I’ll never know, will I?’

She gestured for Keith to leave, who gaped at her and then stormed off.

In shock and sorrow she grabbed for her giant stuffed blue lion and hugged it close.

…

The next morning Keith was watching Allura from his window. His sister was sitting in their old tire swing, gazing listlessly into the distance. For all their fighting and all his denial of family connections, in the end, Allura was his sister, blood ties or no. He thought of Lance, asking him to go to Prom with him, insistent he didn’t have anything else in mind, only spending time with Keith. He thought about Lotor and how his heart had been broken into a thousand tiny pieces those three years back. It had made him lose his trust in people, in romance and love. Maybe, he mused, Allura had been right. Maybe it had been very wrong to deny her from making her own experiences. Keith took a deep breath and stepped away from the window. He made a decision and reached for his mobile phone.

At night he jogged down the stairs, calling out to Coran who was watching TV.

‘By, Coran, I’m going to the prom.’

‘Funny, buddy,’ Coran called back, as if that had been only a joke.

But Keith was already out the door.

…

Allura was heading towards the door in her blue-and-pink prom dress, when Coran intervened.

‘What’s that?’ he asked, gaping at her.

‘A prom dress.’ Allura smiled sweetly.

Coran frowned. ‘I seem to be hearing that word a lot lately.’

The doorbell rang and Allura opened, excited and happy to see Shiro standing in the frame. Her boyfriend stared at her, mouth hanging open.

Then he smiled.

‘Hi,’ said Allura.

‘Wow, I…’ He laughed. ‘Wow.’

Allura smiled. Shiro didn’t look so bad himself, a suit really brought out his dark eyes and hair and the tuft of white that protruded from the middle of his forehead looked very cute. Her heartbeat sped up at the prospect of spending the evening with him.

‘Bye, Dad,’ she said and turned to go, but her father intervened.

‘Stop,’ Coran ordered. ‘Turn. Explain.’

‘Okay.’ Allura swallowed. ‘Remember how you said I could date if Keith dated?’

Coran’s eyes narrowed, but he let her go on.

‘Well, he found this guy who’s actually kind of perfect for him which is actually kind of perfect for me because Shiro asked me to go to the prom and I really, really, _really_ wanna go and since Keith went, I guess I’m allowed to, based on the aforementioned rule, and it’s previous stipulations, of course!’

Coran was studying Shiro intently and Allura did not like that.

‘Nice to meet you,’ Shiro said and extended his prosthetic hand, but before Coran could react, Allura had grabbed it and was dragging him out of the house.

‘Let’s go.’

As they left, Coran called after them. ‘I know every cop in town, bucko!’

Allura could feel her face heat up. So much for a good introduction into the family.

…

Lance was standing at the top of the stairs, waiting for his date, when someone in a suit, with a suspicious amount of black hair in his neck passed him. He whirled around, staring after Keith. Mullet had, once again, tied his mullet up, and he was, lo and behold, really wearing a tux. Underneath a black jacked he sported a red waistcoat and tie and Lance’s mouth went dry. Who knew that a tuxedo could have such a breathtaking effect?

Keith was fidgeting and looking around the place until Lance approached him.

‘Wow,’ he said, tugging the red rose he’d bought into the small breast pocket of Keith’s jacket.

Keith gave him a once over and smiled. ‘You, too.’

Lance extended an arm and Keith took it as they walked in the direction of the booming music. His heart was racing, but he pretended to be unfazed, cool and smooth as always. In the back of his mind he wondered how long they would have to stay at Prom for it to be appropriate to disappear into a dark corner.

‘Where’d you get the tux at the last minute?’ Keith asked, ripping him from his distracting thoughts.

Lance blinked, then he shrugged. ‘Oh, just something I had, you know, lying around… And you?’

Keith smirked. ‘Oh, just something I had, you know… lying around.’

He caught Lance’s eye and the both chuckled. _Wow_ , Lance thought, _wow, wow, wow. How did I never notice him before?_

Keith turned to face him. ‘Listen,’ he began, suddenly serious. ‘I’m really sorry I questioned your motives. I was wrong.’

Lance’s stomach dropped. Oh, no. ‘You’re forgiven,’ he murmured with a straight face. Keith must never find out.

His date smiled at him, appearing to have bought his words. ‘Okay.’ He took a deep breath. ‘Ready for the prom?’

‘Yes, Sir!’ Lance saluted and Keith rolled his eyes, but Lance didn’t miss the small smile that was playing around his lips.

…

Lotor was ringing the doorbell at Allura’s house, eager to arrive at the prom with the belle of the ball.

When the door opened, a tall man with a massive orange moustache and matching hair looked down on him.

‘Hi Mr. Altea, I’m Lotor. I’m here to pick up Allura.’

Mr. Altea stared at him wordlessly, then closed the door in his face, leaving Lotor to stand sheepishly in the front yard.

…

Keith walked onto the dance floor, arm in arm with Lance when he spotted Allura. His sister was in the arms of a senior that, thankfully, was not Lotor, but a decent looking young man with a prosthetic arm and a strand of white hair that stood out from the jet black rest. He was tall and well-built but looked like the most forthcoming gentleman in the world and Keith was glad that Allura had found such a likeable boy. Allura smiled radiantly and nodded at him. if anyone could make her make that expression, he thought, he deserved to be with her.

He glanced at Lance, pondering how a lanky teenage boy in a tuxedo could look that good. Just as he wanted to start dancing with his ridiculously attractive date, Hunk approached him, looking dapper in his tux himself.

‘Have you seen her?’ he asked desperately.

‘Who?’

‘My date! I don’t know what she looks like.’

‘Oh, Hunk,’ Keith sighed. ‘Please tell me this isn’t some kind of hallucination?’

Hunk looked devastated. ‘No! Pidge set me up, but she didn’t tell me who it is! I only know she’ll be wearing an olive-green ball gown.’

Lance tapped Hunk’s shoulder, intervening their little squabble. He pointed to the stage and, fair enough, a girl in an olive-green ball gown was standing there, fidgeting with her short hair.

‘Oh. My God.’ Hunk made, then turned around to grab Keith’s shoulders, voice gone up an octave. ‘It’s Shay!’

Hunk chortled at his friend’s desperation. ‘Yeah, and clearly she’s waiting for you.’

He shoved his friend towards his date and watched as they nervously greeted each other. Oh, bless their candy cotton hearts.

Keith and Lance were clapping as the band finished their song, but Keith was too occupied with Lance to look at the stage. His date was wearing a dark gray tuxedo with a blue waistcoat and tie that were the exact shade of his eyes. He was smiling at Keith, holding his gaze as they shared this moment of strange, detached togetherness. He still couldn’t believe he was here, at prom night, in a tux, but he started to think that, with Lance by his side, it wasn’t all bad.

Then a new song started and Keith recognised the first chords immediately. His head jerked towards the stage and he yelped.

‘Oh, my God!’ He stared at Lance who grinned impishly. ‘It’s –’

Lance leaned forward against the noise. ‘I called in a favour.’

Keith gaped at him in disbelief. There was no way –

When his favourite singer descended from the stage and walked towards them he shook his head and laughed. It was the very band that had played the night Keith had met Lance at Club Voltron. The singer stayed with them for a few beats, winked at Lance, then walked back onto the stage.

Keith stared at Lance, for once at a complete loss of words. Luckily, his date was much smoother. Lance put a finger under his chin and kissed him gently. Keith’s stomach was churning in the most wonderful of ways as he reciprocated. Then Lance slowly pulled Keith towards him, hands around his waist and Keith laced his fingers around his neck. They started turning slowly to the beat of the music until there was only Keith and Lance, Lance and Keith.

‘You’re amazing,’ Keith whispered as he leaned his head on Lance’s shoulder, knowing that he would remember this night for the rest of his life.

…

A few songs in, Allura excused herself and headed to the bathroom, hoping her make-up was still as on point as when she’d arrived. She had not expected to run into Nyma.

‘What are you doing here?’

‘Oh, you haven’t heard?’ she asked haughtily. ‘Lotor picked my up.’

‘Oh, well,’ Allura said, not very eager to continue this conversation with her ex-friend. ‘Congratulations, he’s all yours.’

Nyma sneered. ‘Very generous, princess. And just so you know: Lotor only liked you for one reason. He even had a bet going with his squad. He was gonna nail you tonight.’

Allura stared at her, appalled. She huffed, at a loss of words, then stormed out, hoping to return to Shiro and forget all about what had just happened.

…

On the dance floor Lance and Keith had transitioned to a faster, more outgoing dance. They were both smiling widely, enjoying each other’s company as the music spurred them on.

‘Milwaukee,’ Lance said as he spun Keith in.

‘What?’

‘That’s where I was last year. I wasn’t in jail.’ He grabbed Keith’s shoulders and spun him around. ‘I don’t know Marilyn Manson and I didn’t sleep with a Spice Girl. I don’t think,’ he added sheepishly.

Keith blinked. Something else entirely heated up in him and it had nothing to do with his overwhelming teenage drives. _Lance was opening up to him_.

‘You see, my grandpa, he was ill, so I spent most of the year on his couch watching Wheel Of Fortune and making SpaghettiOs.’ He dipped Keith. ‘End of story.’

Keith laughed, elated by the music, the situation and Lance’s honest confession. ‘No way!’

Just then, in this wonderful, magical moment, Lotor came up between them and pushed Lance a few feet away. Keith tensed, irritated at the interruption and kept close, ready to defend Lance from Lotor if he had to.

‘Hey, what’s Allura doing here with that metal arm?’ Lotor demanded angrily. ‘I didn’t pay you to take out Keith so some cripple could snake me with Allura!’

Keith froze. _What_!? He stared at Lance and Lance stared back, horrified. Keith wanted him to get angry, to deny Lotor’s accusation, but Lance just looked dejected.

A wall of ice glazed over Keith’s heart as he said, ‘Nothing in it for you, huh?’

He fled the scene.

…

Hunk was dancing happily with Shay when he witnessed the scene between the three boys. As Keith stormed off, Lance ran after him, but Hunk decided they needed time between the two of them to sort things out. With everything he knew, he was fairly sure Lance’s motives had been more than just Lotor’s money. Instead of following them, he danced Shay over to Shiro and Allura.

‘Uh, guys,’ he began and they looked at him.

Allura clearly recognised him and blinked. ‘What’s up, Hunk?’

‘Er, you see, we might have a little problem.’ He pointed to Lotor who approached them quickly.

Hunk stepped in between Lotor and Shiro, sensing a conflict coming, but Lotor shoved him aside as if he weighed nothing. He stumbled and fell to the ground.

Shiro looked at Lotor, then started helping Hunk up.

‘You messed with the wrong guy,’ Lotor warned. ‘And now you’re gonna pay!’

Shiro ignored him and Hunk was silently impressed by his calm demeanour. That was until Lotor stepped over the line.

‘You and that little bitch.’

Shiro froze, then turned around to face Lotor. ‘Alright, that’s enough, okay! You crossed the line.’

Lotor sneered, leaned back and suddenly let his fist fly into Shiro’s face. Taken by surprise, Shiro fell onto his backside.

‘Oh, come on!’ Lotor taunted. ‘Get up, you little cripple.’

Hunk watched as Allura tapped Lotor on the shoulder and, when he turned, delivered him a punch right onto his perfect nose. Lotor tumbled back, face contorted in pain.

‘Shit, Allura,’ he cursed. ‘I’m shooting a nose spay ad tomorrow!’

Allura started screaming at him, enraged, and suddenly Hunk was more scared of her than anyone else in the room, including Lotor. ‘That’s for making my date bleed!’ she cried. Without hesitation, she delivered a second blow. ‘That’s for my brother!’ Then she pulled his shoulders and rammed her knee into his balls. Hunk winced and subconsciously covered his crotch as Lotor went to the ground. ‘And that’s,’ she told him, glaring down, ‘for me.’

…

Allura stepped past Lotor and helped Shiro up.

She pulled him away gently and asked, ‘Are you okay.’

Shiro stared at her in wonder, then smiled widely, despite the pain that erupted on his nose. ‘Never been better.’

She leaned in and placed a tender kiss on his lips which Shiro answered to eagerly.

Lotor was cringing on the ground, ignored by all as the prom continued.

…

‘Would you give me a chance to –’ Lance begged, holding onto Keith’s arm by the stairwell.

‘You were paid to take me out by the one person I truly hate,’ Keith spat at him, mustering him with undisguised bitterness. ‘I knew this was a set-up!’

Keith freed his arm and turned to the stairs, but Lance grabbed him and whirled him around, desperate to make him understand his real feelings, desperate for Keith to smile at him again.

‘Keith, it wasn’t like that, okay?!’

Keith glared at him. ‘Really? What was it like? A down payment now and a bonus for sleeping with me?!’ His voice was shrill.

‘No, I didn’t care about the money, okay! I cared…’ Lance cried, trying to somehow communicate to Keith that he was telling the truth. ‘I cared about you.’

But he had lost, he realised, when Keith stared at him with a blank expression. ‘You are _so_ not who I thought you were.’ He turned to leave.

Frantic, Lance pulled him back in, grabbing his face and kissing him hard. He hoped against reason that the gesture would make him yield. But unlike the previous times, Keith did not reciprocate the kiss. Instead, he broke free and pushed him away with a disgusted glare, then fled down the stairs.

Lance stared after him, his heart breaking a little more with every step Keith took away from him. The boy who meant everything to him would now do everything in his power to forget about him.

Allura came running out onto the corridor and the two of them made eye contact, but then Lance looked away, staring at the ground and cursing himself for every stupid mistake he’d made.


	7. I Hate the Way I Love You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes all you need for a happy end is a guitar.

Saturday morning Keith was sitting on the veranda, nose buried in a book. The sun was gleaming to spite him, he was sure, as his heart was still lost in a giant black hole. The revelations of the night before had shocked him more than he’d like to admit and he was appalled at himself for how much it affected him. he had known that love was not his thing, and despite that he’d fallen headfirst for Lance and his stupid, perfect smile, and his annoying, adorable courting. Keith growled. Enough about Lance now, it was time his brain gave him a break already. Lucky for him, distraction came in the form of his sister.

Allura approached him, carrying a cup of tea and offered it to him. ‘Here,’ she said, granting him a small smile. ‘If you want…’

Keith took it. ‘Thanks.’

She was dressed in white trousers and a white jacket over her pink-and-blue shirt and Keith knew she’d dressed herself up for Shiro. From the way she mustered him he suspected that she feared him blaming her for the whole disaster, seeing as Shiro and Pidge had, at first, encouraged Lotor to pay Lance. All so Allura could get a chance to date… But Keith didn’t blame her. Instead, he actually blamed himself and Coran’s idiotic rule. Without that, there would have been no ban on Allura’s freedom and no stupid Lance.

‘Um,’ Allura said and he looked up. ‘So… you sure you don’t wanna go sailing with us?’ she asked timidly. ‘It’ll be fun.’

Keith shook his head. ‘No, I’m fine.’ Watching the two lovebirds happily together was sure to make him think of Lance and if he thought of Lance anymore than he already did…

Allura lingered for a moment. ‘Look, I don’t know if I ever thanked you for going last night.’ She paused as Keith looked up at her. ‘But it really meant a lot to me.’

Keith smiled. ‘I’m glad.’ And he was, in a way. Of course his own drama had ruined the evening for him, but seeing his sister so genuinely happy had still been a blessing. Shiro was obviously a wonderful influence on Allura and Keith was very proud that she’d learned to stay away from Lotor and all the people only occupied with being as popular as possible.

Behind them, Shiro stepped onto the veranda.

‘Hey,’ he greeted.

‘Hey,’ Allura replied, voice thick with affection. It was miraculous how much her face lit up whenever he smiled at her, Keith thought.

‘You ready?’

She nodded.

Shiro inclined his head at Keith, granting him a meek smile. ‘See you later.’

‘Bye.’ Keith gave him a short wave, glad the other boy had no intentions of talking about the events of prom night.

He watched as the two walked off together and, despite their murmuring, heard their exchange.

‘I-is he okay?’ Shiro asked, sounding somewhat guilty.

Allura sighed. ‘I hope so.’ Then she took his hand and they walked down the veranda.

Coran stepped out and saw Allura disappear with Shiro.

He frowned. ‘Where’s your sister going?’

Allura had not told him about her date, as she’d finally found the courage to defy him. Keith hadn’t stopped her, why would he? Since she wasn’t going after Lotor anymore, he’d stopped worrying about her.

‘She’s been meeting some bikers,’ Keith replied dryly. ‘Big ones, full of sperm.’

Coran narrowed his eyes. ‘Funny.’ Then he stroked his moustache. ‘So, tell me about this dance, was it hoppin’?’

Keith snorted. ‘Parts of it.’ _The band, Lance in a tux, Lance smiling, Lance telling him about his Grandfather, Lance staring at him with big, haunted eyes –_ He scolded himself and returned his attention to Coran.

‘Which parts?’ his adoptive dad asked.

‘The part where Allura beat the hell out of some guy.’ He smirked. When Hunk had first reported the incident that morning, Keith couldn’t help but laugh wholeheartedly, despite his own shattered heart.

‘Allura did what!?’ Coran stared at him.

‘What’s the matter,’ Keith asked bitterly. ‘Upset that I rubbed off on her?’

‘No, impressed,’ he retorted.

Keith’s eyes widened. _What?_

Coran sat down beside him, mustering him thoughtfully. ‘You know, fathers don’t like to admit when their children are capable of running their own lives. It means we’ve become spectators.’

Keith waited, wondering where this was going. Another stay-with-the-family talk?

‘Allura still lets me play a few innings. You’ve had me on the bench for years.’

Keith sighed. Well, yeah, but it wasn’t like Coran had made it easy for him either. He had tried so hard to be a great dad that Keith had become scared he would one day forget the things he’d done with his real father, or muddle them up. He didn’t want to deny his Dad’s existence like that, so he had always rejected his adoptive father’s parenting attempts as best as he could.

‘And when you go to Marmora State,’ Coran muttered on, ‘I won’t even be able to watch the game.’

Keith blinked. Had he heard right? ‘ _When_ I go?’

‘Oh, boy,’ Coran swallowed, smiling at him sheepishly. ‘Don’t tell me you changed your mind. I already sent ‘em a cheque.’

Keith stared, then he broke into a smile and hugged Coran fiercely. ‘Thank you, Dad!’

Coran received his sudden bout of affection awkwardly, patting his arms and, Keith suspected, trying very hard not to cry.

…

Monday morning, despite himself, Lance was sitting in English Lit class with Mr. Holt. He hadn’t called Keith that weekend, as he had no idea what to tell him, how to change the fact that, yes, indeed, he had taken Lotor’s money to take him out. How was he going to convince Keith that he had actually fallen for him, actually wanted to be with him, when the 300 dollars had still weighed heavy in his pocket. No, he’d had to do something else first and he’d prayed to every known god that his plan would work.

When Keith entered the class room and stalked right past him to his seat, Lance’s heart clenched painfully in his chest. _Not yet, Lance_ , he reminded himself.

‘Alright,’ Mr. Holt said, scanning the class. ‘I assume everyone has found time to complete their poem.’ He paused. ‘Except for Mr. Galra,’ the teacher chortled, ‘who has an excuse. Boy, lose the glasses.’

Lotor was sitting in the back of class and Lance had noticed, with dull satisfaction, that he was wearing a large pair of sunglasses. He took them off and showcased his broken nose and black eye. Shiro had told him all about how Lotor had acquired these. _Good job, Allura_. He surely hadn’t expected that of the Beauty Queen.

‘Alright,’ Mr. Holt continued, still smirking. ‘Anyone brave enough to read theirs out loud?’

No one moved. Lance, of course, had not written anything. This wasn’t his thing, and, well, he hadn’t even remembered what he was supposed to do anyway. The whole class was holding their breath, seeing as nobody wanted to get picked out by their teacher.

Then, hesitantly, Keith put his hand up. ‘I will,’ he said quietly.

Lance perked up, heart hammering in his chest.

Mr. Holt sighed, but gestured Keith forward. ‘Lord, here we go.’

Keith stepped to the front of the class, folder in hand, and started reading.

‘I hate the way you talk to me,

And the way you cut your hair,

I hate the way you drive my car,

I hate it when you stare,

I hate your stupid, impish grin,

And the way you read my mind,

I hate you so much it makes me sick,

It even makes me rhyme.’

Keith gave the class a weak smile and sighed when no one reacted. Lance swallowed and Keith continued.

‘I hate it…

I hate the way you’re always right,

I hate it when you lie,

I hate it when you make me laugh,

Even worse when you make me cry.’

Keith’s voice started breaking, eyes wet and Lance would have given anything to wrap his arms around him and bury his head in his shoulders. But he remained unmoving in his seat. Keith was now looking up at him, clearly communicating to whom this poem was dedicated. Lance felt nauseous, knowing he deserved every single line.

‘I hate it when you’re not around,

And the fact that you didn’t call,

But mostly I hate the way that I don’t hate you,

Not even close,

Not even a little bit,

Not even at all.’

Lance stared as Keith finished his poem, never once breaking eye contact with him. He swallowed hard, his chest constricting, and found himself close to tears as well.

Keith blinked, started crying and left the classroom in a hurry, their peers gaping silently at the scene.

Lance had never hated himself more than in that moment.

…

After school, Keith was walking to his bike. He still couldn’t believe he’d read that dreadful poem out loud, but it had also felt strangely good to get these emotions off his chest. He reached for the machine’s keys when he halted.

Leaning against his ride was the red-and-black e-guitar he always played at his favourite music shop. He stared at it, reaching out to let his fingers trace the outline of the polished wood. It was smooth and cool to his touch. When he took it into his hands, someone stepped up behind him, almost making him jump.

‘Nice, huh?’ Lance asked, eyebrows raised.

‘A Fender Strat?’ Keith snorted. Nice, indeed. ‘Is it for me?’

‘Yeah, I thought you could use it,’ Lance mused, tone casual. ‘You know, when you start your band.’

Keith was surprised at himself how desperate he was for Lance to be there, talk to him, and, possibly, apologise. He needed him so much it scared him.

‘Besides,’ Lance commented. ‘I had some extra cash, you know?’

Keith raised his eyebrows. _Please don’t mess this up again, Lance_.

‘Some asshole paid me to take out this amazing guy,’ he explained.

Keith found himself smiling slowly. Okay, right direction, he decided. ‘Is that right?’

Lance shrugged. ‘Yeah, but I screwed up. I…’ he scratched the back of his head sheepishly, ‘I fell for him.’

He looked up and their eyes locked, no words needed, things unspoken washed away in an instant. Keith’s heart fluttered in his chest.

‘Really?’ he breathed, the playful tone from a minute ago completely vanished.

Lance squinted. ‘It’s not everyday you find a guy who’ll instigate arousal in a teacher to get you out of detention.’

Now Keith was laughing, covering his eyes at the memory. ‘Oh, God.’ Why did he like this guy so much?

Lance grinned and gazed at him tenderly, reaching out to play with the back of his hair. Then he leaned in and kissed Keith and suddenly, in a heartbeat, the world was back in its hinges again.

_Huh_ , Keith mused, _how easy_. Then a different thought crossed his mind and he leaned away from the kiss, watching with glee as Lance tried to follow his lips. But Keith was insistent and Lance opened his eyes, pouting. Man, could that boy work a pout.

‘You can’t just buy me a guitar every time you screw up, you know,’ he scolded him.

Lance still had his fingers in Keith’s hair as he answered. ‘Yeah, I know,’ he said solemnly. Then be perked up. ‘But, you know, there’s always drums and a bass and maybe one day a tambourine.’ He smirked and Keith couldn’t help doing so as well.

And Lance dived in again, pressing his needy lips onto Keith’s. Just to see how he’d react, Keith interrupted the kiss again.

‘Don’t just think you can –’

But this time, Lance was relentless. He pulled Keith back towards him and shut him up in the most delightful way possible. Keith melted against Lance’s body and laced his fingers around Lance’s neck as he finally reciprocated.

_I’m in love with an idiot_ , he thought and smiled against Lance’s lips. _My idiot_.

‘What?’ Lance asked, feeling the change in Keith’s expression.

‘Nothing,’ Keith fibbed. ‘Just wondering at myself.’

‘Stop thinking,’ Lance ordered and kissed him again.

They just stood there, in front of Keith’s bike and his new guitar, kissing, ignoring the school’s wild hustle around them, lost in their own little world of affection and bliss.


End file.
